


Instincts

by kracken



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Angst, F/M, Lemon, Light Bondage, M/M, Original Character(s), Out of Character, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Violence, Yaoi, death of bad guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 12:47:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 54,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13881180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kracken/pseuds/kracken
Summary: Duo is a were lion and Heero is a were wolf in a land on the verge of war.





	1. Blazing Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. With Kracken's permission, I began manually importing her works to the AO3 as part of an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017.

Purple eyes peered intently through the tall, brown grass of the savannah. The midday heat was becoming intense, almost too intense. In a very short time, hunting would be out of the question and every living thing, from the hunter to the hunted, would be seeking the sparse shade and the cool riverbank. Duo could not afford to wait. His belly was empty. It had been too many days since he had tasted hot meat, not since he had been with his pride.  
  
Duo pushed down the heart ache. He couldn't afford to be distracted either. He still didn't understand why the white haired male of the pride had suddenly driven him out. It was true that Duo was an orphan, taken in by a nursing female when he had been discovered wandering alone, but none of the others had treated him any differently than his foster pride mates. To suddenly have the huge, male leader of the pride look him over, smell him as if he had rolled in elephant dung, and then abruptly attack him, had been the shock of Duo's life. Duo had begged for an explanation, begged to stay, but all of his pleas had been ignored. He had been sent wandering the plains again, in the same dire straits as when he had been a motherless cub.  
  
Duo sat on his haunches and scratched at a flea. His human torso flowed smoothly into the powerful legs of his lion lower body. The reddish brown fur started thin along his spine and then grew thick lower down. His feet were paws with large, very sharp, claws. His arms ended in hands, but the fingers were tipped in deadly claws as well and the palms were padded. A slightly curved spine, and elbows that had a slightly more pronounced angle than a full human's, allowed Duo to run on all fours and to be, not as fast or as agile as a true lion, but certainly more able than a human to take down a water buck.... a small water buck... a water buck that was old or very young.  
  
Duo knew how to hunt. He had watched the females. Actually doing it himself, though, was different and far more difficult than he had imagined. He was long and graceful, his muscles tight knit and powerful, but he was a new mane. Though his reddish brown fur, at the back of his neck, had been braided and allowed to grow into an impressive length, the hair on the top of his head was well short of an adult's mane. It took an entire pride of females to bring down prey large enough to fill a were-lion's belly. To try it alone, so young and untried, Duo was taking his life into his hands.  
  
Rounded lion ears, sticking out of the short mane of fur on the top of Duo's head, flicked and turned to catch every sound. Sharp, tearing teeth, worried at his lip. He wore a simple knife at his back, attached to his slim waist by a narrow belt, and two tattoos, one a flowing circular pattern around one, honey colored, nipple, and another on his shoulder in the sun design of his adopted clan. His fur covered his modesty and made clothing not only unnecessary, but also impractical. Wearing anything that jingled, flashed in the sun, or hampered his movements, was foolishness. The last thing that Duo needed at that moment was to be foolish. He needed luck, skill, and every advantage.  
  
There! His ears swivelled to catch the sound. Something was struggling, something that could possibly turn into lunch. Duo shot through the grass, keeping low, his body flowing along the ground as his eyes tried to pierce the grass up ahead. If he didn't hurry, another hunter would claim the prey.  
  
Duo froze, nose twitching along with his tail. Instinct was warning him of danger. He could see a flopping, fat, plains hen up ahead and it was giving every sign of having a broken wing, but... it was too easy, too unusual. Duo tried to catch any scent on the air, but it drifted lazily and in the wrong direction. Nothing on the savannah was free for the taking. His foster mother had reinforced that bit of wisdom, again and again, when her 'son' had shown a penchant for sleeping, playing, and not caring much about where his food had come from. It was the first time that Duo considered that her advice might have had more than one meaning.  
  
Duo's stomach growled and he hunched, muscles working and claws digging in and out of the ground in agitation. When the wind suddenly changed, bringing the smell of blood, hunger was too strong. Duo shot out of cover, took the space between him and the bird in two long strides, and grabbed the bird in all hands and paws as he sank his fangs into it.  
  
Hot blood and juicy meat. Duo ripped into the bird gleefully.  
  
The ground suddenly erupted all around Duo, dirt and brown grass flying. Duo's hair trigger reflexes made him drop the bird and spring away, only to run full tilt into bamboo bars. He spun, flipped, and charged in another direction, only to be brought up painfully short again by another wall of bars. He was surrounded. There wasn't any space to escape through. Duo crouched, panting, ears laid back and eyes wide and dilated in fear. He had never been confined in his life.  
  
"Stupid," a voice chuckled.  
  
"Were-lion," another voice said in disgust. "We weren't hunting for were- lions."  
  
"Money is money," the first voice replied and two were-cheetahs stepped out of the tall grass.  
  
Duo snarled and charged the bars, but his clawed hands couldn't fit through the tight weave of the bamboo. The cheetahs laughed at him. Very tall and very slim, they had spots on fur and skin and their hair was short and spiked on their heads. They walked upright and wore clothing and jewelry; loincloths of tanned leather and necklaces of gold. Their claws were cut short and they smelled... Duo snorted and backed against the bars at the unfamiliar smell of something spicy. It had been on the breeze along with the bird blood, but his senses hadn't attached it to any scent of danger that he was familiar with.  
  
"He's dirty," the second were-cheetah said with a frown, "and I think I see fleas."  
  
"He's young and strong, though," the first pointed out. "A few meals, a bath, some manners beaten into him, and someone will gladly take him off our hands for a good price."  
  
"Not as much as a true lion, though," the second grumbled.  
  
The first were-cheetah smiled and showed all of his needle sharp teeth. "Perhaps, but we'll get the cost of the trip back at the very least and that makes him worth the trouble. Go fetch the caravan."  
  
+  
  
A clawed hand took hold of Heero's tail. He snarled and snapped at the presumption, but his old friend only glared back just as fiercely. "Your Warden will have my liver on a platter, if I let you go," Chang Wu Fei warned.  
  
"You are only following orders," Heero reminded him. "I am a prince, after all, and you are only my body guard."  
  
Wu Fei's nostrils flared at the insult. He let go of his prince's tail and took a step back. "If that's all I am, then what are your orders, my Prince?"  
  
Heero glared at the were dragon. He was almost the dragon's height, almost. Chinese were-dragons were not known for their size, but Chang Wu Fei had his chin tilted arrogantly and that seemed to add inches. Green scales covered most of his lower body. The rest was covered in green, shimmering skin that caught the afternoon sunlight in an eye aching sparkles. Dark eyes looked down a long nose and black spines that ran from the top of his head, and down his neck,. twitched and fanned open as an indication of his deep anger with his charge. He wore long knifes at his waist, but he hardly needed them with his dagger like claws and his prominent fangs. There were other breeds of dragons, but Wu Fei was the last of his, the only survivor of a war he never talked about. Why he had chosen to settle in that backwater city of hide and wood, to protect it's heir, no one knew, but he had long ago proven his worth and loyalty.  
  
Heero was a young were-wolf, lanky, all muscle and angles, and just growing in his ruff. His unusual coloring, dark chocolate fur with black on his legs, one hand, and on the tip of his tail, had generated foul rumors that his deceased mother had dallied with a hound, but only a fool who wanted death would have ever made the accusation where Heero could hear it. Though the were-wolf was young, he was a fierce fighter, and Wu Fei and his warden had trained him well. It was that fact that made his constant supervision that much more hateful. He wasn't a cub. He was a young male who was feeling his blood heating up and he needed to set out on his own.  
  
"Stop sniffing for females and remember that this is a dangerous place for young princes!" Wu Fei hissed. "If someone were to take you hostage-"  
  
Heero clenched a fist. It made the golden bands on his upper arm, his lower arm, and his wrist, tighten against bulging muscle. "Sniffing for females!" He ground out. Warden J would like that, wouldn't he? He'd enjoy having cubs that he could use as heirs instead of me!"  
  
Wu Fei cast a glance at the people walking about the city streets all around them. They were looking back at them both in turn, curious about what their prince was doing in such common surroundings. "Mate and make a cub, then, if that will free you." Wu Fei asked in a low voice."Isn't that what you want?"  
  
Heero curled his lip, showing his sharp teeth. His blue eyes snapped fire. "I want peace, which is something my warden doesn't. I'm not going to leave him with a cub and free reign to try to take over our neighbors." He growled low. "Besides... females don't interest me."  
  
Wu Fei eyed him. "At your age? I would keep that quiet, if I were you. Pretend that you want to hump every female, if you want to keep your throne. Your Warden can have you dismissed as heir if you are..."  
  
Heero snarled. "You can't even say it."  
  
"Can you?" Wu Fei retorted.  
  
"Chang Wu Fei," Heero told his guard in a voice that had made many weres run for their lives. "I want you to return to the lodge. I am going to walk the city and see some of the things that Warden J wishes to keep hidden from me."  
  
"Hidden?" Wu Fei snorted. "He keeps his position as long as you are alive. That is his only interest in keeping you sheltered."  
  
"Is that a warning, Wu Fei?" Heero wondered. "I reach my majority in a year. What will Warden J do then? Quietly pack his bags and hand over my throne?"  
  
"I've trained you well enough for you to know the answer to that question already," Wu Fei snorted as if he were suddenly amused. "And, I suppose, if you are old enough to realize that truth, you are, perhaps, old enough to know your danger among your own people."  
  
"I do" Heero assured him. "You didn't help raise a fool."  
  
"Raise you?" Wu Fei grinned and it was alarming. "I was a young dragon when I entered your household, too young to be your mother."  
  
"Not too young or too old to be a friend," Heero replied, beginning to regret his hot words of before.  
  
"No, that you will always have," Wu Fei assured him. "Be careful, my Prince."  
  
Heero nodded gravely and then walked away from his guard. It was... exhilarating. He wanted to run on all fours, race along the streets and the shops, and see everything at once, but he held himself in tight control and stayed on two feet, walking with as much dignity as his excitement would allow him.  
  
He bought coffee and a meat pastry, watched a street show, decided against trying his first beer, and ended up in the bazaar. It was definitely forbidden ground. This was the domain of the were cheetahs. They were traders, running caravans between the cities and selling everything a person could imagine. They were well educated and very sophisticated next to their rustic customers. Their fashion set the standard for everyone else. If they began to wear arm bands, then so did everyone else. Lately it had been colored silks and beaded leather clothes, something most weres had absolutely no need for. Still, they had bought the things, as confining and as hampering as they were. Heero, himself, had fallen for the armbands, but they were beautiful, he thought, and they didn't get in his way like the clothes.  
  
The tall, delicate were-cheetahs in their finery were odd looking. They spoke in high, cultured voices, and their movements were graceful. They didn't call out for customers, they winked and motioned and used their hands to display their wares. Heero felt like a savage as he walked in their world and his ears flattened out and his tail drooped self consciously.  
  
A group of mountain wolves, their fur the color of silver with bands of black, shoved past Heero, unaware of his station. The force sent Heero slamming against something hard. He turned with a scowl, rubbing his arm, and then blinked, startled when he saw that he had collided with a cage, a cage with a were in it.  
  
"Not too close, sir," a were cheetah warned and at his elbow, leaning down with an ingratiating, sharp toothed smile. "He's one of those wild, savannah savages. They don't speak and they haven't any civilization. The beast refused to be tamed or to show any gratitude when we rescued him from starvation. He's very strong. Very fierce. If my lord needs a pit fighter, the beast would do very well."  
  
Pit fights. Heero put his ears flat against his skull in distaste. It was a byproduct of the wars. It was a way to dispose of prisoners and dissidents. "I don't need a pit fighter," he growled in reply and the cheetah backed up abruptly, knowing the warning signs of an angry wolf.  
  
"Of course not, sir," the were cheetah soothed. "I was simply saying that the thing isn't good for anything else."  
  
Heero looked into the cage of woven bamboo. The creature was a were-lion, he was sure, though he had never seen a live one. The creature was lying on its side, sides heaving in a labored fashion. It's reddish brown fur was dirty and the beast was small, much smaller than he thought a lion should be. Young then, like himself, and not treated very well. He could see fleas and the glint of a metal neck collar attached to a length of chain. Heero supposed that was how they dragged him out of the cage. He couldn't imagine the thing living long if it was being forced to live in a cage that was barely larger than it's own body.  
  
The face was young and handsome. Heero found himself staring at the bruised looking eyes and the pinched mouth. He was suffering, Heero thought, and he almost believed that the creature wasn't strong enough to fight any longer, but then he saw the barest hint of purple eyes under the reddish brown lashes, and Heero realized that the were-lion was biding it's time. Heero found it hard not to smile.  
  
"Open the cage so I can get a better look," Heero ordered the were cheetah. "I may have a use for him."  
  
The cheetah became eager. "Of course, sir. I'll call my assistants to pull him out and restrain him."  
  
Heero put on his most arrogant air, the one he had learned from Wu Fei, and said, "How dare you think that is necessary! I am far stronger than a mangy were-lion, trader!"  
  
The were- cheetah clasped it's hands together in an odd, nervous gesture. "Of course, sir! Sorry sir. Just as you wish."  
  
The were-cheetah opened the cage and quickly stepped back, not willing to risk his own skin. Heero took up the chain, felt the weight of it, and then let it slide out of his hand. "Damn! I dropped it."  
  
The were-lion burst from the cage in one mighty spring, snarling, teeth barred, and purple eyes full of murder. Heero ducked aside. The were-cheetah shrieked and ran. The were-lion didn't bother with either of them. He was gone like a shot of lightning into the crowd, running flat out on all fours, thick tail flying behind him along with an incredibly long braid and a length of chain.  
  
"Damn he's fast!" Heero swore and took off after him. He wasn't sure what his plan was or why he was even bothering running after the were-lion. If Wu Fei found out that he was racing, full tilt, out of the city and into the surrounding forest, after a very angry, savage, savannah were-lion, he was certain the were-dragon would have heart failure.  
  
As he suspected, the weakened creature didn't get too far. Heero found it, collapsed, near a river bank and lapping greedily at the water. "Not too fast," Heero warned, "You'll make yourself sick."  
  
The chain was trailing behind. The collar looked cruel. The dirt, the fleas, and the weariness of the were-lion was at all odds with it's molten purple eyes. They said, clearer than words, that he wasn't beaten and that he was ready to die rather than allow it.  
  
"It's all right," Heero soothed and lowered himself down on his haunches to show that he wasn't a threat. He kept his ears up and his tail relaxed, hoping that the were-lion understood were-wolf body language. "I freed you, remember?"  
  
The were lion clearly didn't think much of that fact. He was suddenly bolting again, chain dragging behind him until it caught on tree roots and brought him up short. Heero expected a savage display of panic, but, instead, the were-lion raced back to the end of the chain to free it. It was proof that he could reason, Heero thought, and then took advantage of the were-lion's exposed neck and back to pounce on him.  
  
It was like jumping on steel springs. The were-lion was hard to pin down and he almost escaped, almost lashed Heero with it's claws, but then Heero's jaws were closing on the were's dirty neck and his greater strength was holding him to the ground.  
  
It was a show of dominance and Heero couldn't help doing it. He was part wolf and a crouched creature exposing its throat was a prime trigger for his instincts. He held on, growled, stood over the were-lion, and demanded it's submission.  
  
A were-lion didn't have any such instincts. It held still, waiting submissively, as it had in the cage, for someone to make a mistake. Heero did. He thought that he had won. As soon as he loosened his grip, though, the were lion twisted, drove clawed feet into his gut, and threw him off with a powerful shove. Twisting around again, as if he were boneless, he took off running once more.  
  
Heero swore, even as he tried to get oxygen back into his bruised lungs, and staggered after him deeper into the forest. He was so intent on his quarry, that he didn't notice the mountain were-wolves following behind.


	2. Hot Blooded

Nothing could outlast a loping wolf. Unfortunately, Heero had been confined to city walls and small practice yards. His wind was good, but not as good as his full blooded cousin. Luckily, the lion wasn't a runner either. He was stumbling and panting early on and it was obvious that the forest was confusing him. When he stopped and flopped down on his side, Heero was yards away. He cautiously closed the space between them, not fooling himself this time into believing that he had won. The were's large paws, with their deadly claws, could tear Heero open in a flash. "I'm not going to hurt you," Heero soothed. "I want to help."  
  
"He wants to help," a laughing voice mocked behind him. Heero whirled, ears going back and his small ruff bristling. He nose caught the scent of mountain were wolves; mountain air, dung campfire smoke, and pine forests. There were five of them, ranged loosely to block any escape back to the city. Their black and white markings made them looked sinister, their black banded faces defying any accurate reading of their intentions.  
  
"Look, it's a hound," another were wolf laughed. "Black legs, a black paw... definitely a hound."  
  
"I thought we were hunting a prince?" Another snickered. "Maybe we should cut this HOUND up for our dinner?"  
  
Heero weighed his skill against their numbers. Mountain were wolves were larger and stronger than forest were wolves. They were trained with the sword and often hired themselves out as mercenaries and assassins. Heero didn't doubt that he could handle one, maybe two, but not five trained weres all together.   
  
"My warden will pay any ransom," Heero tried, head lowering in shame. He thought about Wu Fei, about what his best friend and guard would say to him when he arrived back at the city, the prisoner of mountain weres.  
  
"Too bad," one of the were wolves replied, cutting his hope off at the knees. "The person who wants you dead payed us very well already and mountain weres never double-cross."  
  
Heero backed up, ready to make a run for his life in the other direction. They grinned and tensed, expecting it, tails up and ready to enjoy the chase.  
  
A body leapt past Heero towards the were wolves. The were lion, he thought, but the creature seemed to have doubled in size. Paws outstretched and claws extended, it roared, a sound Heero had never heard before in his life. He crouched to the ground, terrified, trying to make himself small as the reddish brown creature roared again, a sound that throbbed through the air and vibrated through Heero's body.   
  
The mountain weres were as startled as Heero. They were all gone in a flash of silver tails, fleeing the unknown. Heero looked after them, whimpered, and wanted to follow, but his body was trying to melt into the ground to hide.  
  
Clawed hands grabbed Heero's arm suddenly and hauled him up. He yelped in panic, even as a young voice said, "Run, hound!"  
  
The were lion was gone then, his tufted tail and dragging chain trailing behind him as he disappeared into the forest at a run. Not terrifying, not larger than life, but smaller than Heero himself and weak from confinement. Heero shook himself all over, forced his ears up, and ran after him.  
  
They slowed to a walk after a short time, the were lion staying ahead, panting. Heero paced behind, head down. His pride had taken a blow and he wondered if he could ever recover from it. The strong, brave Prince had offered ransom for his life to mountain weres and he had cowered and almost wet himself in fear of a scrawny were lion, a creature who could barely put one paw in front of the other. Remembering his assurances to Wu Fei that he could take care of himself, and how Wu Fei had felt confident enough in his abilities to let him go, Heero wondered if he could ever face the were-dragon again. It was hard enough facing himself.  
  
"Go," the were-lion said without looking back at him.  
  
"Where are you going?" Heero wondered. "If it's home, you're going in the wrong direction."  
  
The were lion stopped. It looked back the way they had come, purple eyes anguished and very weary.  
  
Heero wondered, "You can't tell where your home is?"  
  
The purple eyes narrowed.  
  
Heero had a sense of smell that was as good as any map. Every scent told him where he was in his world. The scent of jasmine and wood smoke, told him where his home was. The smell of fern and mushrooms, told him the path to the next city. If he concentrated hard, he could even catch on the breeze, a very faint echo of the brown grass scent that still clung to the hairs of the were lion. The Savannah, he guessed.  
  
The were lion turned and began walking back. He snarled in warning as he passed Heero.   
  
Heero started to follow, but then barely avoided a slash of the were lion's claws. They faced off. Heero told him, "My home is that way too. Where else do you expect me to go with mountain weres after me? You frightened them, but it won't be long before they get over that and come back."  
  
The were lion stared at him, panting. It was clear that he didn't want to go back to the place where he had just escaped and it was very clear that he didn't trust Heero. Heero lowered his head, looking at the were in what he hoped was an understandable sign of friendship.   
  
"I freed you when I didn't have anything to gain," Heero reminded him. "I didn't ask you to pay me back by saving my life. I didn't make a bargain. I just... I don't like to see anyone suffer. They were treating you as if you were a full blooded lion, as if you didn't have a mind or a voice. That's wrong."  
  
The purple eyes didn't soften with sudden trust. They hardened, skeptical. When he turned and began walking again, though, he didn't slash at Heero when he followed.  
  
The were lion was beautiful, despite the dirt and the fleas, Heero thought as he followed the creature. Flowing muscles under thick fur, legs that were long and springing, a braid that was like a tail of dark fire, and those eyes... Heero found himself following the swing of the were's tail, trying to see the tantalizing hint of maleness buried in the thicker fur underneath it.  
  
Heero felt a hot flush. He had liked baiting Wu Fei, insinuating that he wasn't going to mate with females, but it was the first time that Heero began to wonder if his teasing didn't have some truth to it. He'd never been tempted to look under a females' tail.  
  
Wu Fei, he thought, would not only have his hide, for thinking such things in a dangerous situation, but he himself should be volunteering for one of Wu Fei's patented training sessions from hell. Not one decision that he had made that day, had been a good one. If he continued on in that vein for the rest of the day, he'd be dead for certain by sundown.  
  
"You're all alone," Heero said.  
  
Rounded ears cocked back at him and then flicked in annoyance.  
  
"There's nothing like you in this land," Heero continued."You can't blend in. You can't hide if those were-cheetahs decide to take you again." He licked lips nervously and then offered, "I'm a prince. I can protect you."  
  
The were-lion was unimpressed.  
  
"You are being a fool," Heero growled. "I'm offering you safety."  
  
The were-lion laughed and flicked his tail insolently. Heero heard him say under his breath, "Hound."  
  
"I am not a hound," Heero seethed. "I am a were wolf!"  
  
The were lion glanced back at him and then ahead again. Heero laid back his ears and growled deep in his throat. Why was he bothering? He had done the right thing by letting the were lion go and he had been repaid for his kindness. If the were lion wanted to make his own way, why should he argue? Heero knew that he could make much better time alone and that he could certainly slip through the forest quieter than a were lion dragging a chain behind him.  
  
Heero's chin was hitting the ground before he realized that the were lion was suddenly sitting on him. The wiry body was pressing him flat and his voice hissed in Heero's ear, "Be still!"  
  
Heero almost rebelled, almost sank teeth into the hand nearest his face, but then he heard the sounds. The barest rustle above the normal sounds of the forest alerted him that the mountain were wolves had recovered from their fright and were hunting him again, expecting him to try and return home.  
  
The were lion was a great deal heavier than he looked. He smelled of sweat, dirt, and savannah grasses. His fur was a pile of softness against Heero's body and his body warmth was intense. The throat, so close to Heero's face made a slight purr sound as the were lion breathed.   
  
The sound of the were wolves faded. The were lion moved off and continued walking. Heero hurried forward to awkwardly pick the chain off the ground. The were lion stopped and glared, but understood the problem. Heero cautiously followed the chain to the collar, as close as he dared to those fangs and claws, and then flexed muscles. The links separated and those purple eyes widened in amazement as Heero softly put the separated chain down. Though a foot of chain was still attached to his collar, the were lion was free to move quietly.  
  
"Thank you," Heero said.   
  
The were lion snorted. "Cub."  
  
Heero found himself grinning, "I think that's better than 'hound'. "  
  
"Yes," the were lion agreed.  
  
Heero followed the were lion again and he was allowed to walk closer. Somehow, his small act had gained him some trust, though he wasn't certain why. He decided to press his advantage. "I am Heero Yuy, Prince of Wing."  
  
"Duo," came the short reply.  
  
"Duo," Heero repeated. "That's your name?"  
  
No reply. Heero had to assume that it was.  
  
"Do you have princes on the savannah?" Heero wondered, intrigued by the were lion's lack of respect for his title.  
  
"Kings," Duo replied and sounded sad.  
  
"Ah," Heero said.  
  
The were lion glared at him and put a finger to his lips. Heero felt even more foolish. He nodded and kept silent as they ghosted through the forest towards his home.  
  
"Kiyaaah!" a reptilian figure catapulted out of the ferns ahead of them and twin daggers aimed for the were lion's heart. Green scales and skin, flaring head crest of black spines, and a long tail; Chang Wu Fei looked deadly and furious as he came to his prince's defense.  
  
"Chang!" Heero shouted and sprang forward to the were lion's defense, just as the were lion backpedaled into him in panic. They tangled and went down in a pile of flailing limbs and tails while Wu Fei hovered and tried to make sense out of the situation.   
  
"Don't kill him!" Heero managed to gasp out as he avoided a slash of claws. "He's under my protection!"  
  
Wu Fei frowned and sheathed his knives. He glared down at them with an arched eyebrow as Heero attempted to stop the were lion from running away by shoving down on every point of the were's body he could manage to reach. Finally, they ended up locked together on their sides, panting in exhaustion.  
  
"He's my guard," Heero told the were lion. "He won't harm you."  
  
The purple eyes were fierce, but there was a scent of fear on the air. It seemed the were lion wasn't as fearless as he was pretending to be.  
  
"I'm going to let go," Heero said cautiously.  
  
Wu Fei warned, "Cat, if you harm my Prince, I will slice out your heart."  
  
The scent of fear grew heavier. The were lion was looking at the were dragon now, wide eyed and obviously not sure what kind of creature Wu Fei was. He relaxed his claws, went limp, and Heero felt safer about letting him go. He moved away and shook himself, feeling bruises everywhere. The were lion rose more cautiously, ears down and hunched as if ready to spring away.  
  
"A chain?" Wu Fei observed as he looked over the were lion. "My Prince, I am very sure that you did not leave my presence with enough credits to buy a were lion."  
  
Heero flushed to his tail. It was time to face the music and he was suddenly tempted to run away. He bowed his head. "I... I freed him from the were-cheetahs. They were mistreating him."  
  
"I doubt that unless there was good reason," Wu Fei shot back. "They won't purposely damage merchandise."  
  
"They had him in a cage, a small one," Heero protested.  
  
"Captives rarely go willingly to servitude," Wu Fei replied. "My Prince, you cannot go about freeing every creature in the market. Since I doubt this creature was purchased with pocket credits, I must assume that you freed him illegally?"  
  
Heero said under his breath, "He escaped."  
  
"While you happened to be there?" Wu Fei asked skeptically.  
  
"Yes... The were cheetah opened the cage," Heero explained. "The were lion ran away."  
  
"Into the forest," Wu Fei growled, furious, "and you followed him to... what? Capture him for the poor were cheetah?"  
  
Heero's ears went down and he replied sullenly, "No."  
  
"My Prince!" Wu Fei exclaimed in exasperation. "Do you have such little regard for your own hide? This were lion is young but their claws are formidable weapons. If he decided to kill you, I doubt there would be much you could do to stop him."  
  
"He saved me!" Heero protested and then sank to the ground with a whine, knowing that he had said the wrong thing..  
  
"Saved you?" Wu Fei jumped on that. "From?"  
  
Heero tried to think of an explanation that didn't include mountain weres, but he knew he couldn't lie to Chang Wu Fei. "Assassins," he tempered.  
  
Wu Fei's claws went to his knives. "What? Where?!"  
  
"Back there," Heero replied. He felt safe with Wu Fei there. He couldn't imagine the were-wolves going against a were dragon, a were lion, and a forest were wolf trained to battle. Wu Fei wasn't so confident.  
  
"We will discuss all of this back at the city!" He snapped. "Come!"  
  
The order didn't include the were lion.  
  
"Duo's coming too," Heero protested.  
  
"Duo?" Wu Fei was looking around them anxiously. "The were lion? He is of no concern to us. You will have to compensate the merchant. Your Warden will not be pleased to be out that many credits for a creature he will never see a whisker of." He glared at the were lion. "Go. You are free."  
  
The were lion twitched his tail, looked from Heero to the were dragon, and then slunk off into the ferns. Heero bounded after him. "No, wait!"  
  
It was then that the mountain were wolves attacked.


	3. Keep

Heero heard Wu Fei's shout of warning. Both he and the were-lion turned, with ears laid back, to see the were dragon leaping towards their attackers. The black bands on the silver were wolves were confusing, making them hard for eyes to follow. It also made their numbers seem greater than they were. The mountain weres were expert at ambush and they clearly understood the effectiveness of a pincher movement. They came from two sides at a rush, leaping, bobbing, and putting their black bands to good effect. Wu Fei attacked, undaunted, and Heero, after a moment's hesitation, felt his training engage.   
  
"Run," He told the were lion and put the creature from his mind. His mentor needed a left hand shield and he took up that position. The were wolves circled them, laughing, but Wu Fei regarded them disdainfully and awaited their next move.  
  
Heero's training had begun as soon as he could walk. He was a warrior through and through, but this would be his first test, his first kill, maybe, and it was time to stop being the protected prince, to stop being a cub. His eyes went icy and his ruff sprang up menacingly. No emotions, he thought, no distractions. Focus, find their weaknesses, and destroy them as efficiently as possible.  
  
The were wolves surged forward, their goal to drag them down and rip them to pieces. Wu Fei met them with slashing knives and killing martial arts moves. He seemed to fly, to defy the laws of gravity, and he killed with grace and unequaled skill. Heero was more basic, more brutal, relying on his strength, which was considerable, and the power of his blows. It was with surprise, that he realized that non of the mountain weres, older and larger than himself, were his match. Side by side with Wu Fei, they killed half of the were wolves before the rest fled, tails tucked between their legs.  
  
Heero hadn't even broken a sweat. He looked down at the dead weres, his mind telling him just how he had snapped that neck, broken that arm, and smashed that face. He felt satisfied, disturbed by the need to kill, but understanding that here was the proof that he was the weapon that Wu Fei and his other teachers had fashioned him to be.  
  
Wu Fei smoothed a hand over his black crest and said, "They were weak The weak should not fight."  
  
Heero understood. His teacher had said it often enough, but it hadn't made any sense until then. There was nothing honorable or good in facing an enemy who was not your equal. Heero felt as if he had slaughtered, not battled. The weres hadn't had a chance and there was dishonor in that. He thought how, earlier, he had been afraid, had offered ransom for his life, and he felt contempt for himself. He had acted the part of protected cub, waiting for rescue. This was proof that he didn't need to wait for that any longer.  
  
The were-lion... Heero tested the air and caught his faint musk over the smell of blood. He curled a lip in disgust, but then grunted. How could he blame the were for leaving? It wasn't his fight. He had come there in slavery and now he was free to seek his home. He didn't owe Heero any loyalty. Still, Heero thought of amethyst eyes, thick fur, purring warmth and he swallowed hard.   
  
"You fought well," Wu Fei told him and that was a high compliment from the were dragon, "but your kick to that were's face was weaker than it should have been. You will work with the upper muscle weights for one hour after we return home."  
  
Heero scowled, bristled, but then bowed his head in submission. Wu Fei's sole purpose was to keep him alive, to train him to a peak of performance not attained by most men. If there was a fault, Heero was just as interested as Wu Fei in correcting it. False compliments, and allowing his ego to be misplaced, wouldn't help him stay alive.  
  
Wu Fei took the lead through the forest and Heero followed. He pricked ears and tried to catch the faint sound of padded feet and the jingle of chain, but he knew that was a foolish hope... until he heard it. He stopped walking. He waited until the sound approached close enough and then he looked over his shoulder at the thick ferns. "You are lost again," he said to the invisible were lion, a statement of fact. The low growl confirmed his suspicion. "I have a friend who lives in the desert beyond the Savannah," he told the creature. "If you come with me, I will ask him to take you with him when he returns."  
  
Wu Fei had turned, frowning. "My Prince, this is not wise. There is... a situation arising between your warden and the Savannah prides."  
  
Heero spun, shocked. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"  
  
Wu Fei raised an eyebrow. "You are not at your majority and battle hasn't been engaged... yet. I'm afraid your warden might see the were lion as a threat."  
  
"That's ridiculous," Heero growled. "My warden isn't a fool and the were cheetah can vouch for his arrival here."  
  
"I'm certain he will want answers from the were lion himself," Wu Fei told him."You may not like how he attains those answers if your were lion decides to keep his silence."  
  
Heero looked back at the ferns, thinking of the were lion's short replies. He couldn't imagine Warden J being happy with yes or no replies.   
  
"He's lost," Heero told Wu Fei. "He can't smell home. He'll be put into slavery again if I don't help him."  
  
"Why do you wish to?" Wu Fei asked, troubled. "Your warden did not raise you to be a compassionate and emotional prince, but took great pains that it should be trained out of you. How has this were lion caused you to suddenly wish to free slaves and to care about their well being?"  
  
"Isn't that noble?" Heero wondered angrily.  
  
Wu Fei gave a small nod. "It is, but I was not hired to teach you to be noble, my Prince."  
  
"But you have. I see you act nobly often. I see you use your strength to protect the weak who should not fight," Heero pointed out. "You have taught by example."  
  
"Then it will be the worst for you and me," Wu Fei sighed. "Your warden cares nothing for honor or being noble. He wants a warrior prince."  
  
"Why?" Heero wondered. "My life has been filled with fighting and training and I wonder why when he makes no preparations for my ascension to the throne."  
  
Wu Fei looked troubled. "I don't know his plans, my Prince."  
  
Heero felt doubtful of that, but Wu Fei had never lied to him or spared him the painful truth. "The were is coming with us," he ordered firmly. "I will deal with Warden J."  
  
Wu Fei gave a small bow that was stiff and disapproving.  
  
Heero tried to see the were, but he was too well hidden in the ferns. "Come with me," he called to it. "It's your only hope of getting home."  
  
The were slunk out of the ferns. Heero was startled. He had been very close by, almost within pouncing distance. The were kept his ears down and his tufted tail twitched. It was obvious that he wasn't happy, but that he saw the necessity of following Heero. When Wu Fei and Heero began walking, he paced behind them. Heero couldn't help feeling relief. To say it was about honor and being noble was a lie, one that Wu Fei probably knew. What really compelled him to help the were, though, was something Heero didn't fully understand yet.  
  
They entered the city, passing through a bustling crowd, and Heero feared he would lose the were lion then and there. Duo's fur was bristled and his ears were flat. Heero took up a position beside him, both to protect the were and the curious people he was eyeing dangerously, as they followed Wu Fei to the keep.  
  
The keep was a lodge of logs and thatch, with a huge main hall for gatherings and audiences, and a warren like section for the royal family and their servants. Hearths, and many weres living close together, gave the air a familiar, heavy scent, that was welcoming to Heero, but clearly distasteful to the were lion.  
  
Heero put on a mantle that he had put aside when he had decided to play commoner in the market. He couldn't be the errant young were wolf here. In this place, he was Prince Heero, highly trained warrior and heir to the leadership of the forest weres. His face went hard and his eyes glared at the people who looked ready to question his right to bring Duo into their midst.  
  
"What is the meaning of this, Chang Wu Fei?" A voice asked and a very large, strikingly handsome, were wolf, came up to them hurriedly, a general's sash tied around his waist.  
  
"My Prince," Wu Fei said aside to Heero. " Perhaps you should take your 'guest' to your rooms until I explain the situation?"  
  
Heero nodded and took a side corridor with the were lion slinking close to his side."Stay away from that one," Heero warned. "He's General Trieze. He would like nothing better than to see any creature, not a were wolf, in a cage."  
  
+  
  
Once in Heero's spacious rooms, the were lion felt even more claustrophobic. There was a dead fireplace, but before it was a thick fur, and Duo couldn't help curling into it. He glared at Heero and thought about his words. The pride leader, Zechs, had had the same opinion of other weres as General Trieze, but he had expanded that desire to include scrawny orphans, who looked as if they would never reach the promise of a were lion' full size or strength.  
  
Heero watched Duo for a few minutes and then he moved to light the fireplace. When it was crackling warmly, he chose a low lounge covered in sable furs to rest on. "Is there anything you need?" Heero asked.  
  
"Freedom," Duo growled and the were wolf nodded. Duo had thought that he was a stupid cub, bumbling about like a new born impala, but Heero had shown a harder side, a warrior's training, and an ability to kill with ease. Duo wouldn't underestimate him again. He was in a land of enemies, but his own land had hardly been better. A were lion didn't wander from his pride if he expected to live. The other prides didn't accept trespass into their territories. Which is why it was odd to hear that the head of his pride had been plotting to bring them together for war.  
  
Duo crouched, ears flat and snarled, "I don't like this!"  
  
Heero's tail curled up around him, but his ears were up and alert for trouble. "I don't blame you, " he replied. "You're probably used to wandering the savannah and sleeping under the open sky. I've heard that were-lions don't build or-"  
  
"We are NOT animals!" Duo protested hotly.  
  
Heero bristled. "No, that's what the were-cheetahs thought," he agreed.   
  
"We weave shelters from bramble bushes and wander our territories," Duo corrected him with a growl. "We have pits for making tools and weapons."  
  
Heero looked intrigued. He began to ask questions, but there was a knock at his door. He opened it and a tan were fox darted in. "Where is he, Heero?"  
  
Quatre Winner was a desert were fox. Very large ears were nestled in his golden hair and his eyes were very large and blue. His tanned , tightly knit, body, blended smoothly into tan fur and he had a very bushy tan tail with a white tip. A large, black tattoo adorned his entire back in fanciful swirls and he wore golden armbands, leg bands, and a golden circle at the base of his tail that had been the talk of the more spartan were wolves. Son of a wealthy chieftain, he had traveled extensively before falling in love, creating a scandal, and befriending the prince of the forest weres.  
  
Quatre darted towards the were lion faster than was wise. Duo raised hackles and made a low warning sound. Unperturbed, Quatre danced in place excitedly and gushed, "It's been ages since I've seen one of the Sun Pride. How is old Bukinia? My father spoke volumes about him. Saved my father's life when he was stranded out on the plains by an unscrupulous caravan owner."  
  
Duo regarded the were fox and then replied quietly, "Dead."  
  
Quatre flicked his ears, stunned. "I'm sorry to hear that. Was he your sire?"  
  
Duo looked from Heero to Quatre and then he grumbled, "No." and edged closer to the warm fire. It was too strange to find someone who knew his family here. He had almost convinced himself that he had stepped out of his world entirely.  
  
Quatre understood a reluctance to talk when he saw it. He turned his excited attention to Heero instead. "Did you buy him? He has a chain!" He looked very reproving.  
  
"No, I helped him escape a were cheetah merchant," Heero admitted and then winced, probably remembering his obligation to pay the were cheetah.  
  
"Very admirable," Quatre beamed. He eyed Duo again. "So, he was kidnaped from the Savannah?"  
  
"I believe so," Heero replied."He will need an escort to return. I've promised him safe passage."  
  
Quatre blinked at him and then smiled warmly. "Heero.... I... this is so unlike you. I was beginning to think that your mother had birthed a stone and now you're showing compassion for another-"  
  
Heero's ruff bristled and he cut Quatre off. "Wu Fei taught me honor. A thinking creature should not be caged and sold. It was nothing more than that. After going to such trouble to free him, I don't want him to fall into the were cheetahs hands once more."   
  
"I sense a favor about to be asked, " Quatre surmised with a look that someone reserved for very small cubs that weren't lying very well.  
  
"You are returning to your father's court, " Heero reminded him with a glare. "I request that you allow the were lion to accompany you." "Request? " Quatre laughed but his eyes glinted too. "Are you insulting me? I am indebted for your hospitality. It is my duty." He made a curious motion with his hand over his heart.  
  
"I assume that means 'yes'?" Heero asked him sourly.  
  
"Assuredly, yes, my Prince." Quatre grinned and then he turned his attention back to Duo, tail bristled excitedly.  
  
"You will be very safe with me," he told Duo. "I have a veritable army of were foxes to protect us on our journey. Father may not approve of me, but he is careful with my skin all the same."  
  
Duo hunched in on himself, tail wrapping tightly.   
  
Quatre sighed. "I can see that trust is not something that you've learned to indulge in. I hope that I earn that trust and that we become friends on our journey."  
  
Heero frowned. "You are the one who is too trusting, Quatre. You would make the entire world your friend, even a mountain were-wolf with his teeth at your throat."  
  
Quatre walked to the door, laughing over his shoulder, "Once that particular mountain were found out there were more interesting things to do than eating were fox..." but he didn't elaborate and he was gone, closing the door behind him.  
  
"You can trust him," Heero assured Duo. "He isn't as foolish as he seems and his were fox guard is very fierce."  
  
Duo wanted to snarl and claw, express his anger and alienation in a tangible way, but the were-wolf prince short circuited that desire by asking, "Are you hungry? We could go down to the hall. They should be serving food there now." Duo was off of his fur rug at once.  
  
"Yes," Duo said and the rumble of his stomach punctuated that word.  
  
Fresh meat was what his body needed. Once he was fed and strong again, he would see about finding his own way out of that place. Perhaps Quatre Winner wasn't a fool, but neither was Duo and, once he could get the scent of home, he could return to depending on the one person who had never failed him; himself.


	4. Slaves

There were many weres seated on low divans next to low tables near the big hearth. Servants were laying out platters of cooked meats along with vegetable and fruit delicacies. Mugs of wine and cider were being poured liberally.  
  
Duo stiffened at the doorway, but Heero was already nodding to greetings and raised mugs to his health, and his presence next to Heero was instantly noticed. There were fearful and challenging looks equally peppered among purely astonished expressions.  
  
"They won't dare harm you while you are under my protection," Heero assured him.  
  
He ushered the were lion to a divan that was raised higher than the others and he sat down. Several house cats descended on him, purring excitedly and wanting handouts. Heero handed them off the table. "Damn cats," he muttered and then looked at Duo, who was hunched beside him, apologetically. Duo glared and growled. He wasn't going to be insulted, even by a Prince who didn't seem to know that a were lion was nothing like a cat.  
  
Were wolves served them their meal. Heero dug in quickly, using his hands, but Duo looked at his platter in confusion. It smelled almost like meat, but it wasn't fresh. It smelled like the animals who had died in plains fires.  
  
Heero noticed his hesitation. "It's perfectly safe," he assured Duo. "We have good cooks here."  
  
"Why isn't this creature locked up?" an old voice demanded crossly.  
  
Heero put down his food and scowled at a grizzled were wolf who had a patch over one eye, a chewed ear, and was missing part of a hand. "Warden J. This is Duo of the Sun pride. He is not a servant. He is my guest."  
  
Warden J skewered Heero with an icy, blue eye."If he is a free were, and a guest, then why was it necessary for me to pay for him?"  
  
"I freed him," Heero replied, not backing down.  
  
"A savage from the Savannah, let free to threaten law abiding weres?" Warden J sneered. "It seems I have failed in my lessons to make you a caring ruler over your people."  
  
"Duo hasn't harmed anyone, even though he had very good reason to," Heero informed his guardian. "In fact, I am indebted to him for my life. That alone earned him his freedom."  
  
J looked about him in annoyance as he saw that the other weres were impressed by that revelation. "And where was Chang Wu Fei, your guard, that you should need guarding, my Prince?"  
  
Heero clenched his jaw. Wu Fei had gone to J to explain. The man already knew the circumstances. It seemed that he wanted to put Heero on the defensive, to show his power over him. "Wu Fei is under my orders," Heero growled. "He did as I ordered."  
  
J's eye glittered as if it were a steel trap springing. "Was it your order to leave you alone in a crowded market? Was it your order to allow you to release a dangerous savage from it's cage? And was it also your order to look the other way, while you chased that creature into the forest, where you were attacked by mountain weres? Were those all of your orders, Prince Heero?" He waited, but Heero didn't answer, just panted and glared furiously. "You will be a poor protector of the peace if you cannot even protect and rule yourself., my Prince."  
  
J limped closer and pointed at Duo. "That creature is a savage without manners, without speech, and without respect for laws. It should not be at table with your people, but locked up where it cannot harm anyone."  
  
Heero stood up, hands clenched into fists and nails digging into his palms. "He speaks. He saved my life. He is a were like any other and worthy of the same respect."  
  
"Are you sure?" Treize stepped out from behind the tables holding a flapping hen. He tossed it into the center of the tables and the servants scattered as it landed with a loud squawk. Almost faster than the eye could follow, Duo was over the low table with a bound and down into the center of the tables. He latched onto the hen with hands, claws, and teeth. He bit into steaming hot blood and juicy meat, and he began tearing the hen into chunks, swallowing quickly before anyone could react.  
  
"Are you sure he is the same as any were?" Treize repeated with a smile.  
  
J looked disgusted as the blood and feathers began to spread away from Duo's graphic meal. Heero stared, astonished. It was Quatre who stepped forward gingerly, tail band flashing and a bright smile on his face.  
  
"The prides enjoy a bounty of fresh meat on the Savannah, and they like the challenge of the hunt," Quatre explained. "I think it shows their strength and grace, don't you? Of course, it's messy, but go to the kitchens sometime, and you will see it is not much better there before the meat is cooked and brought out to you." His tail waved gently. "Because their ways are different from ours, it does not make them savages."  
  
Bones crunched loudly between Duo's sharp teeth as he finished off the bird. He sat up then and began cleaning himself with his tongue as he watched everyone warily.  
  
Treize smiled and said. "All the pretty words in the world won't make a lie of what our eyes see, Quatre Winner."  
  
Warden J looked pointedly from Duo to Heero and then he ordered, "Guards, take the were lion and confine him."  
  
"Ignore that order," Heero snapped.  
  
The guards hesitated, uncertain. J and Heero faced off. J saw something in Heero's face that was unbending. He frowned, not sure what to make of it, and then his _expression went guarded as he gave a small bow and said, "I'm sure my Prince will keep him in order. I suppose there is precedence for princes keeping exotic... pets."  
  
Quatre looked uncertain and then he was suddenly confidence itself. "Duo is starved. He's probably been in captivity for days without his accustomed food. I think we can all forgive him his eagerness?"  
  
There were a few sympathetic nods, but for the most part everyone was looking wary and sickened.  
  
"Come, Duo," Heero ordered as he walked around the tables. "We can eat in private."  
  
Duo left behind a pile of blood and feathers as he licked his fingernails and followed Heero. Once they were away from the hall, Heero turned and confronted Duo.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Heero demanded hotly. "I can't believe that you didn't know better. Do you pull down water buck and drag them into your home to tear apart?" Duo's eyes went lidded as if he were as angry as Heero and then he replied, "The little were fox was right, I haven't eaten in days. The were cheetahs thought weakening me would make me easier to handle." His eyes glowed with temper. "They were wrong."  
  
"Now you speak!" Heero seethed. "What was it that kept you from speaking to Wu Fei, to Warden J, to me?"  
  
"Trust," Duo replied simply.  
  
"And now you trust me?" Heero wondered.  
  
Duo's ears flicked and then he replied, "You defended me when it wasn't to your advantage."  
  
"Don't make me sorry that I did," Heero warned, but then relented. "Come with me. One hen can't have filled your belly. Are you that apposed to eating cooked meat?"  
  
"Cooked... I've never had meat... cooked," Duo replied uncertainly.  
  
"Can you at least try it before I try to find a place where you can slaughter my cook's chickens?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo thought about it and the disgusted looks of the others weres. "All right. I'll try." "Good, I'll have the cook send food to my rooms," Heero told him in relief. "I think you made enough of a public appearance today."  
  
Back in Heero's rooms, he gave Duo a rag and some water to clean. Duo did so with the fastidiousness of any house cat, seeming not to like too much of the water on his skin, but liking to be clean all the same. When he was done, he curled up before the fire and looked at Heero expectantly, as if he were the prince and Heero were his servant.  
  
Heero scowled, but he ordered their food and, when it came, he served the were himself and sent the servant out of the room. Putting cooked chicken on a plate and plain water in a cup, he placed it before Duo on a low table. Duo sniffed at it curiously, but his ears were back.  
  
"Try it," Heero urged as he began to take a small piece himself. He almost pulled back a stub as Duo clutched at the plate possessively and showed fangs threateningly. "All right, pig!" Heero growled back and stepped away to give the were his space.  
  
Duo sniffed the chicken again, wrinkled his nose, and then tentatively gnawed, not using his hands at all. It was very savage looking and Heero winced, wondering if Treize might not be right in at least some of what he had been saying.  
  
"It tastes strange," Duo complained. "It doesn't taste fresh and it's hot."  
  
"You'll get used to it," Heero told him.  
  
"I don't want to get used to it! I am not a carrion bird!" Duo suddenly shouted and tossed the entire chicken at Heero's head. Heero ducked and it slapped soddenly against a wall. Duo yanked at his collar and chain. "I am not a beast. I am not a cat! I will not be chained. I will not eat meat that has been left from someone else's kill! I may be an orphan, but I was of the Sun pride and I will not shame the females who raised me!"  
  
"You are an ungrateful savage!" Heero snarled back, short ruffed raised. "I saved you. I protected you! I fed you!"  
  
"You have enslaved me," Duo said, in a quiet, choked voice. He sank down dispiritedly. "You have me captive as surely as the were cheetah's did .If your Warden has his way, I will be someone's rug soon enough or caged for their amusement."  
  
Duo was lying down flat now, face turned towards the fire, chain and braid snaking away from him and reddish brown fur fiery in the light. His sides were heaving and Heero wondered if he were crying. He couldn't imagine the tough, fierce were lion doing that, though.  
  
"I promised that I would see that you returned home," Heero told him. "I keep my promises."  
  
"I didn't hear any promises," Duo replied sullenly, "but I did hear that you were not in any position to make them."  
  
Heero almost went blind with anger. He kept very still, letting it seethe through him, letting the tension in his balled fists, and the nails driving into his skin, take the brunt of that anger away. If Wu Fei had taught him anything, it was not to strike out in anger, especially when a blow from him could all too easily kill.  
  
When Heero trusted his voice again, he said, "There are people here who think that they rule, but I am Prince in this land and it is my word that is law. They will find that out very soon."  
  
"In the prides," Duo told him, "The strongest male leads the pride and mates with the females. I don't think it is any different here."  
  
"I am strong," Heero told him, "Stronger than Warden J realizes"  
  
There was silence. Heero looked regretfully at the mangled chicken and then settled on a cushion near the were lion."Do you think that your people are looking for you?" he wondered. "I could send a messenger to them-"  
  
"No, they won't be looking for me," Duo replied shortly and turned completely away from Heero.  
  
"No?" Heero was puzzled. He tried to piece together the few things that Duo and Quatre had said about the prides. "If they knew, if they could send people to meet Quatre's caravan, it would hasten your return home."  
  
Duo's tail flicked in agitation. It was a long moment before he said,. "If what you say is true, and I am allowed to return home, I would not be returning to the Sun Pride. I was driven out by the pride leader, Zechs."  
  
"Driven out?" Heero echoed.  
  
The tail curled about Duo, the tufted end near his nose as if he wanted to hide behind it. "I did not challenge his right to the females. I don't know why he drove me out of the pride."  
  
"Were there other males your age?" Heero wondered.  
  
"Yes, when I left," Duo replied thoughtfully. "Solo and an older male, G. Solo had Ruth, one of the females, but G was too old to want any of them. I don't know why Zechs would let Solo stay and make me leave."  
  
Heero considered that and the anguished tone Duo tried to hide. "Perhaps your politics were not what he desired."  
  
Duo did look at him then, frowning. "I don't understand."  
  
"And that might have been the problem," Heero told him. "Did this Solo talk about anything outside of the Pride?"  
  
Duo nodded. "Many times. He thought we were backward and that we should stop living in the brown grass."  
  
"And what did you think about that?" Heero wanted to know.  
  
Duo scowled. "It was stupid!" he growled, flexing claws. "What's better than open sky, a warm sun, and the Savannah?"  
  
Heero understood political intrigue and bringing allies close. "You're lucky that he didn't kill you."  
  
Duo hissed in contempt. "The females wouldn't allow it. Zechs can lead, but they would kill him to protect their cubs." He blushed and looked away. "Even grown cubs."  
  
Heero thought about that, but he didn't stay silent long. It seemed that a meal made Duo relaxed enough to talk. He had to take advantage of that. "If females are so protective, then what made you an orphan?"  
  
Duo curled up as if to protect his heart. "I don't remember. The females told me that they saw me wandering with a gang of older males, but starving for milk..One day, they found me without them and that's when they adopted me into their pride."  
  
A savage from the Savannah, without even a family name to call his own, and recently part of a pride that was declaring war on Heero's people. Heero couldn't have chosen a more unfit companion to be seen with. Quatre was at least wealthy, learned, and perfectly well mannered. This child of the prides killed live chickens in the dinning hall and licked his claws afterwards without concern. Common sense told Heero to turn him over to Treize and beg his warden's pardon. Common sense told him that he was making a mistake that might make his people see him in an unfavorable light. Common sense told him that Duo was dangerous and that he was a fool for getting anywhere near his claws and teeth. A teacher had once told him, though, to follow his emotions, to listen to his heart, and that it would seldom lead him astray.  
  
Heero cautiously approached. Duo twitched and rose to a crouch as if he might take a swipe with his sharp claws. Very slowly, Heero crouched below Duo's level, submissive, and took hold of the iron collar. Duo tensed and his ears went back. Heero found the latch, felt the tiny lock that needed a key. He flexed his strong muscles and the latch parted with the sound of stressed metal and pins. Duo twisted out of the thing and fell backwards almost into the fire. He was panting and wide eyed.  
  
Heero held his hands out in a non threatening gesture, put chain and collar down, and backed away as he said, "I am making a promise, here and now, that I will see you back to your home, alive and well."  
  
Duo exclaimed in consternation, "Why?"  
  
"Because, it's the right thing to do," Heero replied, but he thought, as the were lion settled again, looking mystified, that he couldn't bear for anyone to hurt the were. It shook him, that realization, but he knew that it was the plain truth. Somehow, the were lion had become important to him, more important than politics or winning favor with anyone, including Warden J.


	5. Plots

Chang Wu Fei finally made his appearance just as Duo was beginning to calm down. The were lion was instantly back on the alert, though, when the were dragon was let in by Heero.  
  
Wu Fei was not pleased. His dark brows were drawn down and his mouth was in a straight, tight line. "Warden J would not allow me to return to you until I had instructed all of the keep guards in ways to subdue and defend against a were lion. It took longer than I suspected to tell them all to pray to their ancestors, because there was no defense short of a suicidal frontal assault."  
  
Heero blinked, stunned. He looked at where Duo was crouching by the fire, ears down and his _expression sullen. He didn't look like the killing creature that Wu Fei was describing. "Full grown lions-" Heero began in confusion, but Wu Fei snorted, cutting him off.  
  
"You should know me well enough to realize that I do not indulge in hysterics," Wu Fei berated him. "The were lion is not a were wolf, fox, or cheetah. His claws are razor sharp and he has four sets of them. His teeth are daggers. His speed is far beyond anything you can imagine. If he were to pounce on your person, my Prince, not even your dagger would be able to save you. He would disembowel you before you could take in breath to scream."  
  
Duo tucked his tail around himself. He looked small, too young, and his eyes were uncertain and almost fearful. The cheetahs had defeated him with cunning. Brute strength and sharp claws had not won him the day there. Heero had secured his own safety with a better weapon than edged steel or sharp teeth. He had used truth and honor.  
  
"He isn't a wild lion," Heero replied angrily. "He does speak and he does understand the situation he is in."  
  
Wu Fei scoffed as his one hand tightened on the hilt of his knife unconsciously. "I do doubt that, my Prince. I also doubt that you understand the grave situation that you find yourself in. You are in direct rebellion with Warden J. You made him lose face in front of your people. You are keeping a creature he considers an enemy."  
  
"Will he will move against me?" Heero wondered sharply.  
  
Wu Fei shook his head and the spines on his crest twitched in agitation. "He's trained you to be a warrior prince, but it was never his intention that you rule. If you show yourself unfit for that position, he is pleased. This, though," He gestured at Duo and Duo snarled. "Defying him is quite another thing entirely. He will seek to correct you, to put you back in your place. I don't doubt that he will make that attempt very public. Your humiliation will secure his power."  
  
Heero balled his hands into fists, his ruff rising with his anger."I am no one's tool."  
  
"Dog," Duo snorted and both were wolf and were lion glared at him. "I've seen the dogs the were cheetahs keep," he told them. "They come when they are called, eat thrown scraps, and protect when necessary. You are his dog, it seems."  
  
Heero's anger sizzled along every hair, every nerve, but it was Wu Fei's next words that snuffed that raging fire out instantly, "Prince Heero is no one's dog. Warden J will discover that soon enough."  
  
Duo huddled and looked away.  
  
Wu Fei didn't let it drop. "You insult your savior. That isn't wise." He nodded to the collar and chain. "He has freed you against all wisdom. He defies his warden and his people for you. He has endangered his very life for you."  
  
"It isn't insult," Duo replied quietly. "Simple truth. The savannah isn't so complicated. We are all free, we make our own decisions, and we lead our own lives. We fight. We mate. We hunt. We do not built cities and live where there isn't any fresh meat. We-"  
  
"Perhaps that used to be true," Wu Fei cut him off. "But it isn't any longer. Your pride leader is gathering the other prides. He is making alliances and killing those who stand in his way. He will bring the prides into the forests to kill us and he will sweep the deserts clean to claim all of it for the were lions." His dark eyes narrowed at Duo. "That is truth. Perhaps you would like to tell us more truths and explain why he let you live, when he has killed so many others? Why would he kill the males from Lake Winago, who were sired by him and apposed him, and let a half maned lion cub, not related to him, live?"  
  
Heero was astonished, "How do you know this?"  
  
"We have our spies," Wu Fei explained., never taking his eyes from Duo. "Spies who saw Zechs drive this young one out when he decided to voice his unpopular political views to the wrong were lion."  
  
"Solo," Duo muttered and his pain and anger were evident."I..." he choked and then tried again. "I didn't know that was why I was driven away. I did not think saying what I thought was a threat to a were lion like Zechs."  
  
"So," Wu Fei said unsympathetically. "You see, cub, that things are very similar now, but for one exception, acting and saying the wrong things here will not result in your being chased out of our lands, but rather, it will cause you to be executed. I trust that there will not be any more 'displays' of your anger, poor choice of words, or your hunting prowess before Prince Heero's warden and his people again." He turned to Heero. "My Prince, now that you fully understand what the situation is, I urge you to get rid of this creature as quickly as you can. Warden J will not win the day if you do not give him weapons against you."  
  
Duo rose and paced to the door, looking at them both expectantly. "I do want out," he said, tail twitching. "I can't sleep here. I can't stay here locked in these walls. I need the night air and open spaces. Let me go and I will hunt and care for myself until the desert fox journeys to my land."  
  
Heero forgot anger, forgot the promise of danger, and felt trepidation claw at him. Why did he feel so strongly for a were lion? Why did the thought of Duo wandering the forest alone fill him with dread. "You won't be safe," he argued. "Warden J may send weres out to find you. The cheetahs, or other weres may hunt you and enslave you again. There are dangerous creatures in the forest that you don't know anything about."  
  
Duo grinned suddenly, fierce and daring. "I am a shadow when I wish to be. I am silent, I am strong. I-"  
  
"Have been in a cage for too long and you need food and sleep," Heero protested. "You are not strong."  
  
Duo put back his ears and his eyes seemed to glow purple. "I could have killed you a dozen times in the forest, dog prince. My nose may not be able to find me home, but my claws and teeth are still sharp."  
  
"Tomorrow, at least," Heero said and couldn't help a tone of pleading. "At morning light. Sleep tonight, eat well, and you will be better for it."  
  
"Child," Wu Fei growled in warning. "You are in more danger than you know."  
  
Heero glared. "I am not a child, Chang. You know what I am saying is reasonable."  
  
"It is your reasons that make me fearful," Wu Fei admitted.  
  
Heero laughed, short and sharp. "Not for the first time."  
  
"Child," Wu Fei growled again.  
  
Heero ignored him and turned to Duo. "Tonight," he begged. "Just tonight. I'll get more chickens from the cook. " His stomach went queasy as he added, "live ones."  
  
Duo's ears came up and it was obvious that his hunger was stronger than his resolve to be free. He retreated back to the fire and crouched there. He glared at the too close walls and growled, "Just tonight."  
  
Heero let out a breath of relief and couldn't help a smile. "I'll tell the cook." He turned and came face to face with a scowling Wu Fei. "Trust me," Heero begged him. "Stay loyal to me and my orders."  
  
Wu Fei sighed. "Always, my Prince, whether for good or ill." The cook brought four live chickens in a wire cage. He tried to peer past his prince to the were lion, but Heero blocked his view. "This will do," Heero told him, an obvious dismissal.  
  
"Anything my Prince wishes," the cook said obediently and then, daring, "If I may say so, though, some fresh, uncooked meat might be to the lion's liking, your Highness. A creature his size can't live on chickens."  
  
"Thank you, cook," Heero replied, irritated at the man's mistake of calling Duo a lion and grateful for his suggestion about the food. "If you could prepare some meat for breakfast, we will see if it's to his taste."  
  
"Yes, your Highness." The cook bowed low and left.  
  
Heero took his flapping and squawking chickens into an eager Duo. Duo grabbed hold of the cage, but Heero dared sharp claws as he refused to let go.  
  
"No, you are not a savage," Heero told him sternly. "You are not going to make my rooms into a butcher shop." He thought for a moment and then went to the tiled bathroom. He put the chickens on the floor and then turned to Duo, who's eyes were glowing eagerly.  
  
"Hungry," Duo complained.  
  
"I know," Heero replied, "But I expect you to follow rules of behavior. You will eat neatly and clean up the room, and yourself, afterward."  
  
Duo glared. Heero glared back.  
  
"We don't eat inside," Duo grumbled. "That's bad behavior."  
  
"Where you're from," Heero. "Not here. I don't expect any blood when you come out of here. There's a container for garbage over there. If you have anything left over from the chickens, put it in there. I'll have a servant take it away."  
  
Heero shut the door on the were lion and his meal. The door opened again almost immediately. The were lion looked anxious and embarrassed. "It's too small... leave the door open."  
  
Claustrophobic. Heero grimaced and nodded. As he turned his back and he began to hear the cries of the chickens, he decided to go out onto the balcony. It was a simple wooden platform over looking a training area. Heero didn't usually venture out because he always became the center of attention. A prince's only private moments were in his rooms.  
  
After a length of time leaning against the wall of the Keep, and trying not to be seen, Heero decided that the were lion had enough time to finish his meal. He went cautiously back into his rooms and found the were lion sprawled out over cushions on the floor in front of the fire. His entire body was lax, not even an ear twitching as Heero approached. Duo's stomach was round, as if he were pregnant. The mental image made Heero go hot and he turned to go into the bathroom.  
  
A were lion could not eat chickens without making some mess. Still, the were had tried to be neat. Heero sighed as he picked up errant feathers and one half gnawed chicken leg, and tossed them into the garbage. He took it out of the bathroom and deposited it outside the door of his rooms for the servants to take.  
  
Heero couldn't help approaching Duo again. The were lion was definitely deeply asleep; complete exhaustion having over taken him at last. Crouching down, Heero looked the creature over. Soft fur, smooth skin, supple muscles. Duo smelled a bit like chickens, but mostly of wild grasses and sunshine. His breath moved in and out of his throat with a very faint rumble, not a catlike purr, but a thrum of contentment that was unconscious.  
  
Heero stretched out beside the were lion, weariness taking hold of him too and the warm fire making him drowsy. His pet cats liked to curl up to him for warmth and were wolves liked to sleep in groups, craving the social interaction. If Heero's family hadn't died, he would now be in a common room and sleeping with them and whatever siblings he might have had. His loneliness had always cut as keenly as any blade. No amount of pillows or warmth could replace the soft fur and pulse beat of companions. Sleeping even this close to someone else, even if Duo wasn't from the same species, was giving Heero an odd feeling. It was easy to pretend that it didn't matter when he hadn't known better. He had kept himself aloof, spurned the company of others, and wrapped himself in Wu Fei's self contained philosophy to trust no one and nothing but his skill.  
  
Duo let out a delicate burp His ears flicked, soft, tawny ovals sticking out of his short cinnamon mane. Heero cushioned his head on a pillow and inched as close as he dared. He imagined Duo killing chickens, imagined Duo running through tall Savannah grass in sunlight, imagined Duo laughing and happy with an entire pride of 'family'. Now Duo was alone and, even when he returned to the Savanna, he would still be alone. They were kindred spirits now. Heero almost thought, 'brothers', but something inside of him balked at that.  
  
The candles burned low and the fire sank into coals. The warmth and the low light was too irresistible. Heero fell asleep, listening to the rumble of Duo's breath and his strong heartbeat.  
  
Heero opened his eyes when morning came and found himself nose to nose with Duo. The purple eyes were open and regarding him calmly. That stopped Heero's instant urge to recoil. He twitched, his tail bristled, and his ears lowered submissively.  
  
"You won't... disembowel me, will you?" Heero asked softly, a bare whisper.  
  
The were lion twitched an ear and actually smiled. "Not if you feed me, Prince," he replied, just as softly, as if they were sharing a secret. "Besides," he added, "You make a good sleeping rug."  
  
Heero snorted, but then retorted, "So do you; a soft one."  
  
Insults exchanged, Heero was the first to roll away and come to his feet. He stretched, shook himself, and then went to call for breakfast. When he'd sent a servant scurrying, he turned back and saw that the were lion hadn't moved. He looked as if he'd gone back to sleep, in fact. Heero returned to his warm spot, but not quite nose to nose. The were lion's tail flicked and Heero had a feeling it was a warning. "Are you well?" Heero wondered.  
  
One eye opened again. The were lion made a delicate yawn and then rolled onto his back, furry legs splayed and hands stretched above his head. His ribs stuck out as he elongated his body and then relaxed. Heero found himself searching quickly between Duo's legs for proof that the long haired were was male. He could smell male musk, but something instinctive made him very curious about that place. "If you stick your nose there, I will take it off," Duo growled and rolled onto his stomach, claws raking the floor.  
  
Heero blushed. "I was curious...." was all that he could find to say.  
  
Duo looked him over. He frowned and Heero could see that he had questions as well. "Are you... like a dog?" Duo asked hesitantly.  
  
Heero's ruff rose and he snarled, "No!"  
  
Duo wasn't put off by his sharp reply. "You look like one..."  
  
"Are you like a lion, because you look like one?" Heero demanded in revenge.  
  
Duo flushed. "No."  
  
They stared at each other below the waist. Very slowly, Heero rolled onto his side and raised his leg. After a moment's hesitation, Duo echoed his move. They both looked, and then they both lowered their legs at the same time and were suddenly moving to opposite ends of the room, embarrassed.  
  
"Satisfied that I am NOT a dog?" Heero demanded in a choked voice.  
  
A pause and then Duo replied, "Yes. Do you see that I'm not a lion?"  
  
Heero thought of the very masculine parts that he had seen beneath the thick fur and nodded shakily, his face burning.  
  
A servant knocked on the door. Heero scrambled to answer and to get them out of that difficult situation. What had possessed them, he wasn't sure, but decided to curse his instincts and the need it gave him to assess every male around him. It wasn't anything more than that, he told himself, but couldn't stop the heat from traveling from his face down to a very uncomfortable part of his anatomy.  
  
The servant entered with a tray of food. There was one plate heaped with raw meat that looked sickeningly fresh. Duo was up at once and taking it from the frightened servant's tray. Duo retreated to a corner with it and began eating with more neatness than Heero believed possible with his very large, clawed hands. Heero took his own meal and dismissed the servant, who was happy to flee.  
  
Heero had cooked pheasant, cooked eggs, and a mug of clean well water. He sat on a low divan and ate slowly, watching his companion from under his unruly bangs. Before he was a fourth of the way finished with his breakfast, Duo was done with his, burping, and curling up by the fire.  
  
"Are you sleeping again?" Heero wondered incredulously.  
  
Duo muttered something incoherent and then did fall asleep. It seemed, in that respect at least, he wasn't any different from a house cat. Eat and sleep. That wasn't fair, he corrected himself, the were lion was exhausted. Heero was a creature used to constant activity, though, and sleeping the day away wasn't in his nature. In fact, he needed to meet Wu Fei for practice. That left Heero with a dilemma. Duo needed a guard, for his own protection and for his people's protection against Duo.  
  
Heero went to the door and ordered a servant. "Bring me Trowa, the mountain were wolf."


	6. Plain Sight

"Prince?"  
  
The mountain were wolf always made Heero nervous. He was quiet, tall, and his black bands were distracting. It was also hard to forget that mountain weres were mercenaries and killed for a living. It was hard to believe that Trowa had turned his back on that lineage and had fallen head over paws for the hyper, sparkling desert were fox, Quatre.  
  
"Come in," Heero said, finding his tongue, and motioned Trowa inside. When the mountain were saw the sleeping lion, his hand went to the short sword at his belt. Ears forward and nose twitching, he said nervously, "I smell blood... chickens."  
  
"Dinner," Heero explained. "Duo isn't used to cooked food."  
  
Trowa didn't take his eyes from the were lion as he warned, "Your Highness, you do realize how dangerous a were lion is... how quick... This one is small, but their speed and claws are deadly."  
  
"He's a friend," Heero assured him, not certain whether that was true or not. "While he sleeps, I need someone to guard him."  
  
"Your highness, I have skill, but even I am not a match for this kind of creature," Trowa protested.  
  
Heero looked over at the sleeping were lion. Duo had rolled onto his back and his bulging stomach and splayed paws were almost comical. Heero couldn't imagine that lazy, sated, were suddenly killing them all. "I want you to keep anyone from entering my rooms," Heero told Trowa, "and to inform me if Duo leaves them. Don't harm him... unless it's necessary, of course."  
  
"And who else will be on guard detail with me?" Trowa wondered sharply.  
  
Heero lowered his ears, realizing that he was asking Trowa far more than he had thought. "No one, "Heero replied. "I don't think I can trust anyone except you right now. The guards are loyal to Warden J."  
  
"And Warden J wishes this creature caged or destroyed, I am assuming?" Trowa replied as his green eyes glared at him.  
  
"Yes," Heero admitted.  
  
"And you don't see the wisdom of that?" Trowa wondered acidly.  
  
Heero stiffened and found his temper. "I am your prince and this is an order."  
  
Trowa dared a lifted lip and a very faint growl. "I will not die for your order."  
  
"I don't expect you to," Heero retorted.  
  
"As long as we understand one another," Trowa grunted and moved to leave the apartment. "I will stand outside the door. That will lessen my danger."  
  
"Acceptable," Heero agreed.  
  
"Trowa!" Quatre came in like sunlight, bangles of gold chiming together and earrings tinkling. He pressed right up against the tall mountain were, smiling happily as Trowa bent briefly to touch noses. Quatre gave Trowa's nose a brief lick. Quatre's tail twitched straight up and bristled and the gold band at the base seemed even more outrageous.  
  
"Quatre," Heero warned and pointed to the were lion. Heero had a strong feeling that Duo was well aware of their presence, but that he was ignoring them. He couldn't imagine that a creature, with the senses of a cat, could still be sleeping through their noise.  
  
"He's sleeping?" Quatre asked. His tail drooped contritely, but his sparkling eyes didn't lose an ounce of excitement . He stepped a bit away from Trowa, though he kept a small hand on his chest as he peered at Duo. That intimate touch made Heero blush. Heero had only a sketchy knowledge of sex, and none of it dealing with two males, but he had enough imagination to have a sudden mental picture of the much larger Trowa... and the bright, excited Quatre... mating...  
  
Heero turned suddenly for the door, pushing past Trowa. "Now you have someone to keep you company," he managed to say. "I'll be at practice with Chang Wu Fei."  
  
The heat that was coursing through Heero's body was almost unbearable. He began to walk away, embarrassed and confused, but his sharp ears could hear Quatre asking, "What's wrong with Heero?"  
  
Trowa's reply was amused, "Where is your nose? Your little Prince is not a cub any longer."  
  
Quatre sounded confused," What?" and then exclaimed as realization hit, "Oh! With you? I don't share," he growled fiercely."Not even with my friend."  
  
"Not me, I think," was Trowa's knowing reply before Heero was out of hearing range.  
  
Heero blushed, which made the heat in his body that much worse. Trowa's words were making his mind reel. Heero was finally feeling adulthood, he realized, but... not with females... and not with... wolves. With...  
  
Heero fisted his hands and drove his claws into flesh. He was attracted to Duo, to a were lion? As soon as he thought it, he knew that it was true. What else would explain his reaction to Duo; his unreasoning fascination? Heero thought of Duo sleeping beside him; his warmth, his soft fur, his gentle rumble, and his pleasing scent. The heat within Heero grew and it centered in those places luckily covered in thick fur.  
  
Heero found a quiet, shadowed corner behind a roof support and crouched tightly around his discomfort. What was the cure for this? Trowa and Quatre were barely tolerated, but at least they could claim to be cousins of the same species. If the people found out that a were wolf and a were lion were... lovers? Two males? Two males from two clans who were on the verge of war? Outrage at the perversion would hardly cover their reaction. Heero wasn't sure how he felt about it himself. A combination of the fear for his situation, and the cold floor, took away the heat at last and Heero was left feeling hollow and strange. He needed to talk to someone, someone he could trust with his secret, someone who might scoff and insult, but listen, too, and give him some sort of advice. Heero sprang up from his hiding place and went in search of Chang Wu Fei.  
  
Change Wu Fei was stretched out in a sunlit bay window, eyes closed. A myriad of window panes made the spot very warm. Heero stopped a respectful distance and waited, knowing that the were dragon was well aware of his presence. The were dragon's crest spines went up, twitched, and then Wu Fei opened his dark eyes.  
  
"You've finally decided to leave your new toy?" Wu Fei's voice was curt. He wasn't expecting an answer as he slowly rose.  
  
"Duo isn't a toy," Heero replied, keeping his voice calm and not showing his anger. "He's..."  
  
Heero sat down and sighed, ears drooping. Wu Fei stared never having seen that dejected look on his Prince before. "I need to talk to you," Heero told him darkly.  
  
"You do," Wu Fei agreed as he stretched out again and closed his eyes. "So, my Prince... speak."  
  
Heero watched the light sparkle over Wu Fei's dark scales, wondering how a creature near his own age could seem so much older... and wiser. He had always wanted Wu Fei's respect and had worked hard to become his equal. Lessons with the were dragon had been his only real pleasure in his strict and lonely life. To jeopardize that now by admitting perversion, weakness, and a tremendous failing of his teachings...but who else could advise him? Who else could he trust?  
  
Wu Fei's tongue flicked out and tasted the air. His face grimaced and he sighed deep in his chest. "So, it's come to that? Am I supposed to teach you how to court a female now?"  
  
Heero ducked his head, ears going lopsided as he struggled to explain. "Not... females..."  
  
"No?" Wu Fei said. "That Relena has come of age too. I smelled her when she went by with her pack of fawning attendants. Shameless." The last he hissed disapprovingly. "Someone else then?"  
  
"Not females," Heero repeated. "I know about females...I..."   
  
Wu Fei sighed again. "I am attempting to avoid what I know you are about to reveal. If you are wise, you will agree with me, allow me to advise you to ask a were wolf instead of a were dragon, and begin your exercises."  
  
"I... can't do that," Heero admitted. "I'm sorry... It's Duo."  
  
"The lion," Wu Fei clarified as he stood up again and paced the room.  
  
"Were lion," Heero corrected in a small voice.  
  
"As far as Warden J is concerned, he's a spotted skunk that needs killing, and the truth is of little importance!" Wu Fei fumed. He stopped in front of Heero and glared. "Of all creatures... If your urges are for males, there are many forest were wolves that would be eager to lift their tails for you and keep it behind their teeth."  
  
Heero went white and then red. "It's Duo... just Duo," he said in a choked voice.  
  
"A were lion... Can you even mate with it?" Wu Fei demanded incredulously.  
  
That was too blunt. Heero wasn't about to retort that he had seen that he could, or that Duo had purposefully shown him that. "It's more than that," he said instead. "I feel... something for him. I don't know how it happened, but, it's there."  
  
"Your warden will not stand for this," Wu Fei warned. "You have signed the were lion's death warrant for certain."  
  
"We haven't done anything!" Heero couldn't help exclaiming, and then more quietly, "I doubt Duo even feels the same way. He just wants his freedom."  
  
"Best you keep that in mind," Wu Fei warned, his dark eyes hard. "You know the darkness in a person's soul. You see it every day here. Don't let your wayward heart make you drop your guard with that one. He may use it to his advantage."  
  
"I'm not a child!" Heero retorted fiercely.  
  
"I can smell that you aren't," Wu Fei replied. "You can't let anyone know about this. You can't pursue it unless you plan to leave this place and your title behind." He leaned close for emphasis. "And if you do choose that road, make sure you leave quickly and under cover of night, because Warden J will not lose his power through you so easily."  
  
Heero knew that he was right, but he also knew that one thing was true. "I will not give up my title to Warden J, no matter how I feel."  
  
Wu Fei straightened and he looked down his full height at Heero. "Make sure that you have the stomach for the consequences of that decision then." He stepped back, hands held wide. "Now, shall we leave hearts behind and practice your fighting skills? I think, my Prince, that you are going to need them very shortly."  
  
Wu Fei trained Heero hard and he was exhausted and aching by the time he was allowed to go. Loping quickly back to his rooms, he found the door closed and Trowa nowhere to be found. In a state of near panic and red fury, Heero opened the door and hurried inside, only to run right into Trowa's back. Trowa grunted and half turned, but his attention was on a laughing Quatre, who was being bowled over by a leaping Duo. Heero felt his blood chill as he watched Duo use his large hands to grab Quatre in close and then almost envelope him as his back legs cushioned their impact with graceful ease. The were lion's head dipped and fangs gleamed as he latched them onto Quatre's throat. Quatre, still laughing, went limp, supple, sand colored were fox looking defeated and fragile in Duo's strong grip.  
  
Heero felt a rush of heat all through his body as he watched Duo's tightly knit muscles ripple and the primal ease of his 'kill'. The were lion's tail balanced him, swinging up and wide, and his knees were springs in cinnamon colored fur with razor sharp claws digging through thick carpet. One snap of jaws, Heero knew, and Duo would be tasting Quatre's blood.  
  
"Deadly, isn't he?" Trowa murmured appreciatively. "We're made for the long chase and for group kills. This creature... he is death, all by himself, every part of him meant for one thing.  
  
Heero blushed hotly as some voice inside of him replied, "Not every part."  
  
Trowa didn't miss his agitated state. The mountain were's nose wrinkled. "My Prince, you are reeking."  
  
And that was the problem. Heero couldn't help the scent of sexual interest. How long would it be before Warden G, or other enemies, noticed that it was strongest with Duo?  
  
Duo released Quatre and settled back on his haunches, looking pleased. Quatre sat up as well, rubbing at his throat. He was grinning and his blue eyes were sparkling, large ears pricked excitedly. "That was incredible! Thank you, Duo, for showing me how a were lion hunts. I was often told about it, but I've never been graced with the sight myself." He almost went nose to nose with Duo, his banded tail waving. "You really must come home with me to the desert. My people aren't so close minded to strangers, or provincial. You would be an honored guest."  
  
Duo looked nervous and overwhelmed and then he backed a few steps away and settled again. "I don't have any... manners or civilization, I'm told. I would be lost there, I think, just as I am here. I want to go back to the Savannah. It's all I know."  
  
Duo spotted Heero and his playfulness disappeared completely. He approached eagerly and Heero noticed that his full belly was gone and that he was sleek and slim again. "Prince," he said seriously and Heero felt a tiny flare of jealousy, that Quatre had been shown a side of him that Heero hadn't. It seemed that he wasn't going to be granted it now. Duo went to the door and looked back at Heero. "I wish to go now, into the forest. I've fed and I've rested." He added, unsure and with a hint of wariness, "You did promise that I could go."  
  
"It's dangerous," Heero replied, unable to keep his disappointment out of his voice.  
  
"Very dangerous," Trowa agreed. "Especially for a young cub who barely knows how to hunt."  
  
Heero and Quatre looked at Trowa in confusion, but Duo hunched in on himself and lowered his ears.  
  
"You attack very fiercely," Trowa said, "but you clearly lack true hunting skills. You must have been driven from your pride before the females could teach you, am I right?"  
  
Duo gave one, small nod, but he said with conviction, "I can do it."  
  
Trowa snorted. "And how well were you doing it before the were cheetah's enslaved you?"  
  
Duo turned away and looked very angry and embarrassed.   
  
"Duo," Heero was afraid now, afraid that Duo was about to make a very bad decision. "I know this place bothers you, but out there... You don't know anything about hunting in a forest or what dangers live there. We've found something that you can eat. It's warm and comfortable here. I can keep you safe-"  
  
"Can you?" Duo hissed and glared at him, purple eyes almost glowing with temper. "And what difference is there in this than in being in a were cheetah's cage?"  
  
"Here, you're promised a chance to return home, under escort, and alive," Heero argued. "Out there, I can't help you."  
  
Duo was suddenly very close; warmth, soft, purring breath, and Savannah scent. His eyes bored into Heero's and he said distinctly, "I am going. Will you stop me?"  
  
Was it a threat? Heero heard one, but Duo's body language said something else. It was pleading, wanting him to give in without a fight. Heero let out a long breath and closed his eyes. Then he opened them again and they were harder. He ordered Trowa briskly, "Accompany us out of the city after nightfall. I doubt that we can keep everyone from knowing that Duo is leaving, but we will try to keep it from happening. Tell no one, not even Wu Fei."  
  
Trowa nodded. Quatre looked distressed.  
  
"Duo! You can't mean to go?" Quatre reached out and touched Duo's arm boldly. "I don't understand why you would risk yourself when Heero is offering you protection until we leave here for my home."  
  
"Being free is more important than being safe," Duo replied, and then he went to a window and looked out, waiting for nightfall.


	7. Undercover

Heero crouched beside Duo, staring around them nervously and ears cocked for any sound. Trowa was crouched low behind them, a sword held ready, and Duo was looking confused already, ears down, and tail twitching.  
  
"We can go back," Heero almost begged. "You don't have to do this."  
  
"I'll... get used to it," Duo replied, but his assurance wasn't wholly steady. "I feel better already, being out of that place."  
  
"We'll meet here, tomorrow, at midday," Heero promised. "I'll bring food."  
  
Duo snarled. "I can hunt!"  
  
Heero's hackles rose, but he willed them down in the next instant. He wasn't going to part in anger. "I know you can," he decided to agree. "But it may be a few days before you learn how to hunt here."  
  
"Nothing is his equal, here," Trowa grumbled. "Leave him and let's go back. I feel danger in the air. I'm certain we were followed. The sooner he goes into the ferns and the darkness, the better. "  
  
Heero felt hesitant, but determined. He could barely make out Duo in the dappled moonlight. It made it harder to say, "I feel that we've become friends. I don't want you to suffer... to go hungry."  
  
"Friends?" Duo sounded surprised and then thoughtful as he replied, "Yes, I think... All right. I'll be here... midday."  
  
Heero was relieved, but it took very little away from his anxiousness for Duo's safety.  
  
"I'll have fresh meat," Heero promised.  
  
"Warm?" Duo asked.  
  
"Warm," Heero promised, though he didn't know how he as going to accomplish that. He would have given Duo the moon, just then, for his promise to meet with him.  
  
"I need a lot of meat," Duo worried. "You'll bring enough?"  
  
"What happened to, 'I can hunt'? " Trowa wondered under his breath.  
  
Duo growled, "If he is determined to meet, he might as well bring what I need!"  
  
"Of course," Trowa snorted sarcastically.  
  
Duo crouched as if he were about to spring. Trowa gripped his sword tightly and backed up a few, wary paces.   
  
"That's enough!" Heero ordered sharply. He stepped between Trowa and Duo and inadvertently brushed against Duo's soft, warm fur. That touch caused a rush of heat to flood Heero's body.   
  
"You... smell," Duo said suddenly.  
  
Trowa snickered. Heero glared and blushed.  
  
"What... What is that?" Duo wondered.  
  
"Love," Trowa laughed and Heero felt like murder.  
  
"I don't understand. It smells like..." Duo trailed off and Heero heard an audible swallow. Duo was suddenly moving off into the woods. "I have to go. I need to find a den."  
  
He was gone into the night then, like a shadow, without a leaf crunching under his paws. Heero stood, ears cocked, trying to catch a sound or a scent on the wind blowing back to him. He smelled it then... like... warm milk... spices... heat... sizzling vanilla...  
  
Trowa smelled it too. "It seems that your were lion isn't a cub any longer either."  
  
Heero wanted to follow Duo, follow that incredible scent that was sending every hormone in his body into overdrive. The hard tug on his ruff made him snarl and whirl on Trowa. Trowa backed up a pace, but his _expression was stern.  
  
"We must go, prince," Trowa urged.  
  
Heero made a sound of frustration, but he followed Trowa obediently. After a few paces, though, it came to him that here was the one person who could answer his questions. It seemed appropriate too, to be in the shadows while he asked them.  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
"Prince Heero?"  
  
"You and Quatre..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You... mate."  
  
"Yes, we mate."  
  
"Why... why with each other and not... with females?"  
  
There was a long pause and then Trowa replied, sounding puzzled himself, "I don't know. I have always been attracted to males."  
  
Heero swallowed hard, feeling hot with embarrassment. "So... you and Quatre..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Mate."  
  
There was a small chuckle. "Yes."  
  
Heero steeled himself. "How?"  
  
Another silence. "DO you know anything about mating, even in the normal way?"  
  
"With... females."  
  
Trowa sounded curious, "Have you tried...?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then how...?"  
  
"Talk."  
  
"Ah... It's somewhat the same," Trowa explained, "But more difficult and in... another place."  
  
Heero choked. He'd suspected but... "Does it... hurt?"  
  
"It can, if you're a fool and don't go slowly and if you don't have a care for your mate," Trowa replied. "I can explain... if you like?"  
  
Trowa sounded uncomfortable. Heero felt that he was going to burst into flames. "Yes... I think I need to know."  
  
Trowa sounded thoughtful now, cautious, "Of course, anything I tell you pertains to were wolves and were foxes. I've never... I don't know anyone who's been with a were lion."  
  
Heero ducked his head and his ears drooped. "I've seen... I've seen that they are the same as we are."  
  
"Have you?" Trowa snorted, but then he became serious again. "A were wolf might bite, might claw, but a were lion... if you hurt or offend him, he could easily kill you."  
  
"I know," Heero replied. "That's why I need to know... in case... not that I think... he's probably not interested-"  
  
"Oh, I think he is, Prince," Trowa interjected.  
  
"How..." Heero struggled. "How do you know who is...mated?"  
  
"There isn't a rule, Prince," Trowa explained. "Some like to be mated and some like to mate. Some like both. There is a way, though, to see whether someone is predisposed to... being mated."  
  
"How?" Heero demanded anxiously.  
  
"You hold the neck, at the back. It doesn't have to be hard. If a were wolf is... submissive, he'll lift his tail for you," Trowa explained. "I'm not certain this works with were cats, but..."  
  
"Does Quatre... lift his tail for you?" Heero wondered.  
  
"That's personal," Trowa growled.  
  
Heero moved away from that question quickly, not wanting to anger Trowa and lose his chance to have his questions answered. "Could you tell me... how... how I do it?"  
  
Trowa explained then, and Heero felt waves of heat assail his body until...  
  
Heero grunted and crouched, ears down.  
  
Trowa stopped and looked back at him. "Prince?"  
  
Heero remained crouching and hid his face in his hands.  
  
"Think of G, bathing, with Relena," Trowa suggested, guessing his problem.  
  
Heero tried to imagine it, but it was hard.  
  
"I could help you," Trowa suggested. "I don't stray, but you are a Prince. Quatre wouldn't have to know."  
  
The thought of Trowa mating him did more than a face full of cold water. Heero snarled and raised his short ruff. His painful excitement went away and he stood up.  
  
"Never," Heero snapped.  
  
"I'm not that bad," Trowa chuckled.  
  
Heero snarled and stormed past him toward the keep. After a moment, and a chuckle, Trowa followed.  
  
+  
  
Duo nosed through the ferns, hating the heavy smell of earth, plants, and the pungent smell of strange animals. The darkness was his friend. His eyes caught the moonlight and flashed with a rainbow of purple as he stepped softly and tried to keep low.  
  
He marked a few trees discretely, so that he would remember his way back, and hoped someone else wouldn't use that scent to trap him again. Nervously, Duo moved far downwind before he began his search for a place to sleep. On the Savannah, they built small huts, but Duo had rarely slept in them. He preferred a smooth rock high up above the tall grasses, the clear, starry sky, and the moon sailing over head.  
  
The ground grew rocky and sloped sharply upward. Duo picked his way carefully and then found a small opening half hidden by ferns and the roots of trees. Duo squeezed in, hating the chill of the rock, the cold ground, and the lack of space. He didn't want to be out in the open, though, not when his senses were so confused.  
  
Duo curled up into a ball, tucking himself inward so that he was protected by the thick fur on his legs. He stared out at the darkness and listened to the sound of tree branches rubbing together in a breeze. Leaves rustled and there was the small noises of animals. Crickets made and endless symphony punctuated by croaking frogs. That told Duo where there was water and food. He would eat frogs if that was all he could manage to kill.  
  
Grimacing at having to fall that low, Duo's thoughts wandered toward home and what must be happening there. It pained him when he thought of Solo. The were lion had been as close as a brother to Duo. It hadn't surprised him when he had declined to challenge Zechs for his sake. The white leader of their pride was a huge were lion and skilled at fighting. Challenging him would have meant death. It did hurt that Solo hadn't followed him into the Savannah. Male were lions often paired when they were cast out from their prides, and it wasn't unusual for such friends to share the leadership of a pride. If there were many females, it would take more than one male to satisfy them and to keep other males from trying to claim them. Such partnerships were almost necessary.  
  
Zechs had broken that tradition though. He hadn't driven out all males, just Duo. Solo, and other males who had pledged their allegiance, he had kept close and, it seemed, he was using them to take over all the prides. Zechs was determined to take them to war. It was unheard of, strange to contemplate. Were lions belonged on the Savanna. They weren't meant for forests.  
  
Duo thought of his foster mother and the pain in his heart grew. She had broken tradition to adopt him. If she had tried to stop Zechs from sending him away, Duo hadn't seen it. He closed his eyes and tried to think of her soft, warm fur and her comforting voice. In the cold of a small hole in the rocks of a strange forest, it was impossible to breathe life into that memory. It was much easier, far easier, to remember the warmth of a certain were wolf.  
  
Duo felt that uncomfortable heat again, the same heat that had come over him when he had caught Heero's new scent. Something about the Prince drew him, but Duo didn't understand what that something might be. The prince was arrogant, rude, and commanding... yet, he had shown Duo kindness. Duo didn't want to warm to him or be grateful. He was still hurting from his capture by the were cheetahs and he had seen enough of the political and social intrigue of the Keep to have a bad taste in his mouth. Allowing any kind of... friendship... to develop, between himself and a prince of such a place... Common sense told him that it could only end badly. Better to stay by himself and hope that the hyper were fox would keep his promise to take him home.  
  
Yet... Duo sighed. Were lions fought for leadership so that they could mate with females. Duo had never felt the urge, had never wanted to challenge Zechs or leave to find his own pride. He had been comfortable among the females and being friends with Solo. Solo had joked that he was still a cub, and to give it time, but even Solo had begun to wonder about his friend when he himself had followed the scent of a female and dallied in secret, while Duo had felt complete indifference.  
  
The strong feelings that Heero's scent had ignited... was that what he was supposed to feel for females? Duo chewed on the end of his tail, ears down, as he thought about it. What had he wanted to do when he had smelled Heero's scent? Duo blushed hotly and tucked his head down, curling up tighter. He had wanted to... dally... Duo was honest with himself. He had seen Zechs mate. He knew how it was done. Somehow, he didn't think it was something that two males were supposed to do, though. His imagination painted options, painted a detailed picture of Heero and himself doing something like...  
  
Duo groaned and hid his face completely. The need between his legs was suddenly very intense. It wasn't pain, but it was something that begged the same respite. He felt... this had to be wrong, what he felt. It had to be something to be ashamed of. He was wanting a were wolf, a male were wolf; a bad tempered Prince of a foreign land who was about to go to war with the prides.  
  
It had to be wrong. This new place was confusing him. If he just ignored it, until he returned to the prides, he would become normal and he would want females like he was supposed to. He would meet up with Solo and he would convince the were lion to go with him and make their own pride.  
  
In the dark, and in a strange place, it was hard to convince himself of those things. Duo's thoughts wandered back to Heero as if Heero had become his mental lodestone. Why had Heero suddenly become more appealing than his best friend? At that moment, it was Heero he'd rather be with, Duo realized, Heero whom he wished would follow him, not Solo.  
  
Duo bit into his tail, punishing himself. He needed sleep. He needed to be sharp and ready to hunt and defend himself. Worrying about something he was sure would never come to pass, was a dangerous waste of time. Even if his body had lost it's senses and wanted a were wolf, Prince Heero didn't have any interest in him like that.  
  
Duo slipped into sleep at last, but he wasn't given any rest by his confused hormones even then. In dreams, Heero chased him playfully. Duo bounded ahead, laughing, and then suddenly allowed Heero to catch him. They tumbled together, rough chocolate and white fur mingling with cinnamon brown, and then Heero kissed him...  
  
+  
  
Heero started from a dream, feeling heat and hormones raging. Ducking his head into cold water banked it, but it simmered under the surface and refused to go away entirely. He tried to remember the dream as he loped to the kitchens. Something about a wide, brown Savannah and chasing Duo...  
  
The were wolves in the kitchen were honored to have their prince visit them so early in the morning. The butcher slaughtered fresh meat and then packed it into a metal pot, with a lid, to keep it as warm and as fresh as possible. Heero sprinted out of the back door with a barely muttered, thank you, and slipped as inconspicuously as possible from the Keep.  
  
Without guards or friends, Heero felt doubts about his mental state, but he knew that the more people who knew where Duo was hiding, the more likely it would be for word to spread. It was better to leave a few false trails, use his hunting skills to lay low long enough to make certain that no one was following, and to meet Duo by himself.  
  
Heero hoped that Wu Fei wouldn't find out.  
  
The meeting place was empty when Heero arrived, but he wasn't surprised. He sat in plain sight with his gift and waited.  
  
Duo stared at Heero from the ferns, belly on the ground and ears back. He longed to go to him. The struggle made him pant. Heero's ears cocked, hearing the sound. Duo tried to quiet himself. These feelings were frightening, painful, and confusing.  
  
"Duo," Heero called softly and Duo heard the slight begging tone.  
  
Duo was frozen, the part of him that wanted to be free, that wanted home, that wanted to deny what it felt, fighting with the other part of him that wanted close to Heero, that wanted to feel his fur, nuzzle his skin, and see what two males could do together.  
  
Heero put down his pot. He looked angry, lost, and then looked hurt as he turned and loped back the way he had come.  
  
Duo slipped out of the ferns and approached the pot. It smelled like Heero. He nuzzled the metal, rubbing the scent against his face, and then he picked up the pot and slipped back into the forest's shadows.  
  
Heero had stopped. He had slipped back and seen Duo. When he saw Duo rub against the pot, the rush of heat was blinding. Heero felt a very alpha urge to pounce on Duo, to over power him, to show him who was dominant. Heero throttled that with all the training that Wu Fei had taught him. He was not his urges. He was not an animal. He would come back the next morning, and the next, however long it took for Duo to trust him and come to him.


	8. Tiger Stripe

Quatre stretched out in front of the hearth, tail waving and a gentle smile of contentment on his face. Trowa, curled up on the divan nearby, watched the unconscious, enticing beauty of the were fox indulgently.  
  
Heero was pacing. Every third circuit of the living room, he stopped at a window and stared out at the darkness.  
  
"You've tried five days now, Heero, " Quatre said. "In a short time, my caravan will be ready to return to the desert. I think you should try another approach."  
  
Heero scowled, ruff raising. "I take him food. I leave. He eats it and leaves the pot for me to find and refill. I've become nothing but his servant."  
  
Trowa snorted. "Because you allowed it, my Prince." That was daring and Heero gritted his teeth. For Quatre's sake, Heero had not said anything when the mountain were had chosen to stop acting like a guard and more like a noble guest, but there were lines he wasn't willing to let the were wolf cross.  
  
"Trowa! Mind you manners or Heero will have you taken to the dungeons!" Quatre admonished, "and rightly so!"  
  
Trowa made a small noise of temper, but then said more politely, "I didn't mean any disrespect, but, if you will allow me, I can give you good advice, my prince."  
  
Mollified, Heero replied impatiently, "Tell me, then."  
  
Quatre glared. "Trowa, you are truly an artist in some respects, but in romance, I doubt that you can give the advice that Heero needs."  
  
"Sometimes, simple and direct wins the day, Quatre," Trowa argued.   
  
"And, sometimes, it loses it," Quatre retorted.  
  
There was a knock on the door. Heero answered it and found a timid servant. "Warden G wishes to see you, your Highness."  
  
Heero looked up and down the corridor, his temper not improving. "Where is he, then? Does he think I am someone to come when he calls?"  
  
"N-no, my Prince," the servant stammered in fear, "but he says that it is a delicate matter concerning his ward, Relena. He begs your time and indulgence."  
  
"Not today," Heero growled and began to close the door.  
  
The were wolf stammered quickly, "This meeting, I've been told to say, was sanctioned by Warden J."  
  
"Then Warden J can go and discuss whatever Warden G desires," Heero snapped back and slammed the door closed. Glaring at nothing, he stood for a long time before he could trust himself to say, "Enough for tonight."  
  
Quatre and Trowa rose, Trowa with unconcern and a sympathetic smile, and Quatre with a worried _expression. "Should you refuse to attend, Prince Heero?" Quatre wondered. "Relena and her Warden are very important to Warden J and to your kingdom. To risk breaking an alliance now, with a hasty-"  
  
Quatre was right, but Heero didn't want to acknowledge that. He was tired of playing politics, tired of stepping over the eggshells of intrigue, and tired of pretending that he was interested in an alliance marriage with a female, any female. Heero knew why he was being called. Wu Fei never spoke idly, so when he had mentioned Relena's emerging maturity, it had been with a purpose. A warning of things to come.  
  
"Not tonight," Heero almost begged and went to the window to stare out at the dark again. He thought that both Trowa and Quatre had left, but he sensed the were fox standing behind him.  
  
"Prince, your heart is heavy," Quatre said softly, "but if you want to continue being a prince there are certain duties, certain concessions that you have to make. You know this. You can't follow your heart and chase after a were lion, when so many people are depending on you to protect them from the prides. That protection comes in the form of keeping peace with your allies... even if it means paying court to Relena."  
  
"Are you asking me to give him up?" Heero demanded, fist pounding on the stone wall before he turned to confront Quatre.  
  
Quatre was undaunted. He reached out and touched Heero's arm, looking up into his face. "I wouldn't ask you to do that," he replied. "I only ask that you don't forget about your people."  
  
"And if that means the same thing?" Hero wondered bitterly.  
  
Quatre looked pained. "I followed my heart and left duty behind. I can't tell you what decision you should make for yourself." He smiled gently. "Love often finds a way, my Prince, truly it does, even when it seems impossible."  
  
"You are a dreamer," Heero told him as he pulled his arm away. "I don't have that luxury. If I don't sit my throne, then Warden J will."  
  
"You've made your decision then.?" Quatre wondered, saddened.  
  
"I don't have to, not yet," Heero replied as he walked towards the door.   
  
Quatre was worried. "Where are you going?"  
  
"To Warden G," Heero replied angrily, "and my duty, as much as I hate it."  
  
It was much like Heero expected. Warden G was a thin were wolf with a thatch of ragged hair on his head that made a strange impression that a large mushroom was growing there. His eyes were piercing and his nose was rather long and hawk like. He looked down it fiercely at Heero even though his tone was pleasant and deferential.  
  
"Thank you for coming, Prince Heero. I am honored. When Warden J informed me that you were of an age to chose a consort, and that my Relena was your first choice, I was very surprised."  
  
There was an edge to that last sentence and Heero pricked his ears. It told him that G wasn't at all fooled and that he knew very well that Heero hadn't had anything to do with their meeting. Heero also noted a hint of disapproval and that had him perplexed. Why would the warden of an eligible female not be happy to see her married to a prince?  
  
G led Heero into a well appointed reception area. Heero sat on a divan while G called for refreshments. Heero expected a servant to bring them in, not Relena herself. The pale, golden were wolf moved gracefully with a tray of food and drink, and bent low to offer it to Heero. Her blue eyes were hidden under long lashes and her cheeks were blushing pink. Gold flashed at her ears and trembled at her throat on a necklace. She smelled of flowers and...  
  
Heero couldn't help snorting the scent back out again. It was cloying, strong and like... His nose wrinkled. Sandalwood? Sweet musk? He wasn't certain. He only knew that he didn't want to keep smelling it and he was glad when she left the room again.  
  
G was apologetic. "As you can see..."  
  
Smell, he meant, Heero thought sourly.  
  
"...Relena is of age as well," G continued. "I am concerned, though."  
  
Heero had taken a drink of a strong cider to get the smell out of his throat. He looked over the cup's brim, curious.  
  
"Relena has a great deal of potential, my Prince," G told him. "She would make an excellent consort. However, I am concerned that she will be kept away from any real decision making. It would be a waste, and a grave mistake, to ignore what she has to offer."  
  
Heero's short ruff raised and he growled. "I rule, warden G."  
  
G bowed his head, "Of course, my Prince, but as a councilor, perhaps... She has some very interesting ideas about how our lands may be at peace, and remain that way."  
  
Heero tried to school his temper. "She may speak with me as she wishes, but her concern as consort, would be to birth and raise the next heir."  
  
"Very primeval," G replied dryly, "but how likely will it be that such a role will be created for her to play?"  
  
Heero felt a chill. He tried not to let it show.  
  
"She was attracted to you, Prince Heero," G pointed out. "But her scent only annoyed you. That is not the reaction I would have looked for in a young male. I think you have a secret you would rather not let Warden J share."  
  
Heero was not an innocent when it came to politics. He said through his anger and fear, "and you wish me to buy your silence by allowing Relena to rule? How is that different from Warden J removing me as unfit?"  
  
"Not rule," G corrected. "Share in the rule. You will not find it as terrible as you imagine. She will keep your secret and so will I, if you allow her plans for peace to be enacted into law."  
  
"You believe in them that much?" Heero scoffed as he slammed down his mug of cider and stood up.   
  
"Yes," Warden G told him seriously. "I'm willing to risk my life for them."  
  
"I'm promising nothing at the moment," Heero spat back as he headed for the door, "and neither you nor Relena will have proof of anything until we marry... and I may yet have some say about that!"  
  
Furious, Heero slipped from the Keep, ignoring danger and common sense as he ran into the forest and tried not to think about future wives, a childless marriage, and a scandal that might pull him from the throne and end his life. He reduced himself, instead, to pounding blood, aching lungs, and mindless exhaustion.  
  
The roar took Heero by complete surprise. He crouched in terror and watched as the dappled moonlight picked out the form of Duo, claws outstretched and fangs bared, leaping right at him... No not at him, over him. Duo flew effortlessly over his crouched form and Heero picked out the scent that was all Duo's, a scent so welcome to his senses that his body responded instantly even in the grip of his utter fear. If he had doubted his attraction before, he didn't doubt it now.  
  
Duo barreled into something behind Heero. It cried out, whatever it was, but it didn't live long to make any other noise. Heero was witness to the ferocity and strength in Duo that everyone had warned him about. Duo wrapped himself around the creature as if he were hugging it with arms and legs, only they ended in deadly ripping claws. Duo's jaws broke through the beast's neck with a snap and Duo's purple eyes gleamed in the moonlight as he jerked his head backwards and took out the throat completely. Heero felt blood splatter him.  
  
Duo held on, lying on his side with the creature still in his embrace. Then, finally, he broke away and came to Heero's side. It was then that Heero saw the bear. It was large enough to do damage to a young were wolf, but it hadn't been a match for a were lion.  
  
"Can I eat that?" Duo panted as he sat and tried to get some of the blood off of him.  
  
Heero stared, said, "No.", and then he laughed. Duo grinned back.  
  
"You have a nice laugh," Duo said. "You should do it more often."  
  
Heero grew more serious then and sighed as he sat as well. "There's never been much to laugh about around here."  
  
"I could see that," Duo agreed.  
  
Heero studied him. Duo kept grinning. That _expression was as out of place as Heero's laugh.  
  
"I was worried about you," Heero admitted.  
  
Duo's grin turned into a frown. "I know. I had to... find my feet, though."  
  
"Have you?" Heero wondered.  
  
Duo looked around them. "This place is so full of green, but I managed to make a territory and make a kill. I can take care of myself. That's made all the difference."  
  
"That's important to you?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo nodded. "Yes. Wouldn't it be for you? Wouldn't you want to know that, if things went very wrong, you could survive on your own?"  
  
"I've never had to think about it," Heero replied, wondering at Duo's sudden openness. Was it because of his new confidence and independence, or had he finally decided to trust Heero more? "You need to wash."  
  
Duo blinked at the change of subject, but then he found his grin again. He rose stiffly, tail twitching with adrenalin, and said, "This way. There's a pool of water. I learned to sit in the trees and jump on the animals that came to drink"  
  
"You can climb?" Heero wondered as he followed Duo.  
  
"It's not easy, but yes," Duo replied.  
  
It was then that Heero noticed that Duo was limping. "You're hurt?" Heero asked in alarm, his nose trying to catch the scent of the were lion's blood over the stench of bear.  
  
"He was strong," Duo replied as he crouched near the water. The moonlight flickered over the surface and a light breeze rippled cattails and water reeds along the bank. "I think I pulled muscles in my back trying to hold him."  
  
Duo washed without getting into the water. He didn't seem to like the feel of it on his fur or skin. He cleaned himself thoroughly, though and, when he was done, he stretched out on a patch of soft ferns. He winced and groaned.  
  
Heero remembered Wu Fei's massages. The were dragon had been an expert at loosening his pupil's over worked muscles. The memory of the hapless bear kept Heero cautious, though, and he said, before he approached any closer, "I know a way to make your muscles feel better.... May I?"  
  
Duo stared at him, considering the offer, and then stretched out further so that he was lying flat on his belly. "It hurts. If you can stop it..."  
  
Heero kneeled beside Duo and felt heat gathering inside of him as he tentatively touched the were lion's back. Duo's skin was soft and smooth. His fur was a thick, soft covering over strong, rounded hips. The tail still twitched, flicking off to one side reflexively. Again Heero smelled the wondrous scent of sizzling vanilla as his hands began to kneed knotted muscle. His own scent joined it and mingled. Duo sighed and smiled, breathing in deeply and looking as if he were in a pleasant dream.  
  
Heero's hands rubbed Duo's neck muscles cautiously. The heat increased. Instinct raged. Everything within Heero told him what to do and demanded that he do it immediately. Heero knew what he wanted... but was it what Duo wanted? What if Duo wanted to be... dominant? Trowa's words came back to Heero and his hands hovered at Duo's neck. Grab and a submissive will... submit. Heero's fingers flexed, poised, and then, he regained control. He forced himself to knead tight muscles along Duo's spine instead. He was not going to force himself on Duo. He would not find out Duo's preference in such a way that was demeaning for Duo.  
  
Heero's hands slid lower, massaging, bringing pleasure to Duo. Duo's breath thrummed in his throat, a low, vibrating growl that was as close to a purr as a were lion could get. And then... Heero's hands massaged the small, flat plane of Duo's hips, right before it disappeared into fur, and was startled when Duo's hips suddenly rose up under the pressure. The were lion emitted a sensuous groan.  
  
Heero licked lips nervously. His hands had jerked away, mindful of Duo's deadly claws and teeth, but they hesitantly strayed back as Duo settled again. Heero moved a little further up Duo's spine and then, once again, let his hands massage that small flat spot. Duo's hips shot up again, upper body still on the ground, but lower body bowed up into the touch of Heero's hands.  
  
Duo's scent grew heavy on the air. It filled Heero's senses. He panted, tasting it on his tongue. The swollen, hot weight between his legs raged and wanted. Heero rubbed that flat spot and Duo seemed lost in his own need, his own sensations. He groaned and thrummed in his throat and then his tail flicked over his back and out of the way of....  
  
Heero wasn't sure what happened next. The heat over took him. His hands captured soft fur and warm skin, his arms locked around a wiry waist, and he nuzzled cinnamon hair at the nape of a were lion who was pushing back against him and all too willing to let him go on. He felt Duo's hips fit perfectly into the curve of his pelvis and then Heero couldn't hold back any longer.  
  
The rope closing around Heero's throat and then jerking him backwards, shocked Heero worse than a bucket of cold water. Bodies piled on top of him, pressing him down flat before he could react, and tied him hand and foot. He heard Duo roar. He heard screams and shouts, but then Duo was silent and there was only voices cursing.  
  
Bodies shifted. Heero was finally able to see. Mountain weres were ranged around them, weapons out and ready, but it was the larger creature that Heero's gaze was drawn to. It was a huge creature with black stripes. If it wasn't a were lion, he thought, then it must be a close cousin. It was easily twice the size of the were wolves and it looked very deadly.  
  
"This is the one," a were wolf said. "The were lion you were looking for." He nodded to Heero. "We'll take that one as part of our payment."  
  
The striped creature sneered and a feminine voice said, "I'm not a fool, you know. I'm very well aware that the prince of this land was about to mount my target. That should make interesting news to a few people, I think, and well worth the extra money that I will be asking for. I'll take the were lion and the prince. You'll take your payment and go home."  
  
The were wolves snarled. The leader demanded, "Why should we? We outnumber you. We can kill you and take everything that is yours."  
  
The creature laughed and it wasn't a pleasant sound. "Have you seen what a were tiger leaves of it's targets, dog? My people are killers. We are perfectly deadly and we always get our targets."  
  
"Not today!" Wu Fei's voice rang out and suddenly the clearing was full of slashing blades and attacking Keep guards. 


	9. Powers That Be

Heero watched Wu Fei leap for the were tigress, blades flashing. The were tiger was ready for him. Her own blades and claws were slashing, lightning fast, and they did a deadly dance on the bank of the pond while the other weres joined battle around them. Duo was unconscious and under foot. Heero shook himself out of his stunned amazement as one of his soldiers cut him loose and then he darted forward to save Duo.  
  
A blade glanced across one of Heero's metal armbands and snicked flesh. He snarled, kicked out, and took that mountain were down. Another took his place and Heero was suddenly driven back and away from Duo. Frantic, he dodged a slashing blade and made the smug, banded face of the were wolf in front of him, turn blood red, as he used double fists and brought them down on the were's head. His hands were covered in blood as he dodged another blade and tried to reach Duo again.  
  
Duo was gone. Wu Fei was down. The mountain weres were dead and the Keep weres were just recovering and looking around them at the carnage. The were tigress was gone as well.  
  
Heero sniffed the breeze and caught her scent, wild jungle and musky incense, and began to run after her as he shouted, "Follow. She has Duo!"  
  
"Stop, prince!" Trowa was catching Heero by one arm and Quatre was blocking his path. The voice, though, had belonged to Wu Fei. He was sitting up, clutched a row of claw marks across his chest. "You are heir of this land. You will stay behind while your soldiers go in pursuit!"  
  
"No," Heero protested, shivering all over and anxious to be gone. His ruff rose and his ears were cocked forward. Tail bristled dangerously, he confronted his mentor. "He is my life! I will save him!"  
  
"He was safe until you sought him out!" Wu Fei accused."You will endanger him again by going after him. I have no doubt that the were tigress will kill him rather than allow him to be rescued."  
  
"I did not endanger him!" Heero snarled.  
  
Quatre's light voice was very serious as he said, "We could hear... and scent you... far from this place. It was those things that betrayed where you were."  
  
"My Prince," Wu Fei hissed as a were wolf kneeled to bind his wound. "I discovered that you were missing and pursued you at once. These," he indicated Trowa and Quatre, "insisted that they knew where you were. I suspected that they were trying to mislead me early on."  
  
Trowa looked unrepentant, but Quatre looked guilty.  
  
"We heard and scented your... meeting... with the were lion quite far off, " Wu Fei continued. "I'm certain the were tigress used it to find you as well."  
  
Heero looked around him and saw the open mouthed disgust in the faces of the weres around him. A prince of the forest weres with a were lion of the Savannah. It was a perversion they couldn't comprehend. His succession to the throne was in danger and he could see it in both Quatre's and Wu Fei's faces. He needed to say something that would erase their doubts.   
  
Heero swallowed hard. He knew what he had to do, but he in no way wished to do it. It was a decision that would damn Relena's reputation, but also give them both what they wished.  
  
"Relena is my consort, witnessed by Warden G. The marriage is consummated and she carries my child." Heero didn't think the weres around him could look more stunned, but jaws were dropping and eyes were going wide. Wu Fei was frowning sharply though, understanding what he was doing and not liking it. "I will pursue Duo, leaving Relena, who has her majority in three days, as ruler in my stead until my return. If anything should befall me, while I save the life of my... of my new ... concubine..." He winced and stammered, "M-My rule shall pass to-to Relena's child."  
  
He had married himself, declared a child he didn't have, and cemented his reputation as a pervert by taking a were lion male as a consort. Heero hoped the subterfuge would last until he was well away or until he returned with Duo. The marriage was irrevocable, but Heero had known, before he'd spoken, that marriage to Relena had been inevitable anyway. A few hours, that's all he needed to rescue Duo, he thought, not long enough for Warden G or Relena to get notions of becoming permanent rulers, or for Warden J to implement any plan to unseat them. The Keep, and his land, could hold together without him that long.  
  
"You are a fool!" Wu Fei suddenly exploded.  
  
Heero looked down at him, pained, but then agreed, "Yes, I am. I'm sorry, Wu Fei. In this, I have to follow my heart, or I will never be myself; whole. I will return quickly."  
  
"And then we will see what you have done to yourself and your people," Wu Fei retorted angrily.  
  
"Yes, we will," Heero sighed, but then he was leaping away and following the scent of the were tigress and Duo on the breeze, Trowa, Quatre, and the his uninjured were soldiers on his heels.  
  
Duo's scent was faint and the breeze kept carrying it away, but the were tigress was struggling under Duo's weight and running flat out. Her sweaty musk was a homing beacon. It said something for her strength that, even with Duo's weight, she was still keeping far ahead of them.  
  
One by one, Heero's soldiers faltered and fell behind. Trowa had lungs like iron and he loped easily beside Heero. Quatre had to run double time to keep up with their longer strides, but he seemed to have the stamina to keep up as well.  
  
Through the tangled maze of the darkened forest, they made their way across Heero's lands. When they finally reached the border, the were tigress was still ahead of them and Heero's soldiers were gone. Panting and exhausted, ears and tail drooping, he tried to hear them or catch their scent. He sensed nothing of their presence. The were tigresses scent, though, was as strong as ever, an arrow pointing out of the forest and across a rolling landscape of scrub and tree islands.  
  
"Heero," Quatre panted, stretching out on the ground and groaning. "She may be leading you out of your lands on purpose. She wanted you, I'm sure, along with Duo."  
  
"You should go back," Trowa panted, but he was still on his feet and looking into the darkness at the glowing moon. "A were tiger assassin is something I can't defend you against."  
  
"She wanted Duo," Heero growled. "I was just an opportunity, one I made myself. We will go carefully, stalk her, and come at her when she is off her guard. She will have to sleep at some point. Until then, I will go on. If you can't follow, then catch up as best you can."  
  
Trowa's ruff rose. "Prince, doesn't it concern you that your soldiers have not chosen to follow you?"  
  
"They've shown their loyalty and it's to Warden J," Heero replied. "They've probably doubled back to ask him for orders."  
  
"And Warden J will decide whether a consort is more easily ruled than a hard headed prince," Quatre panted. "You should go back, Heero. You may lose your throne."  
  
Heero shook his head. "All of my life, sitting that throne has been my goal, but that was because I never had anything else in my life, Quatre. Now that I do... I realize that I never truly wanted it." He grinned viciously. "I think Warden G is as determined to rule as Warden J. I think they can keep each other busy until I return. Who knows, perhaps Relena can convince them to practice her pacifism."  
  
Trowa laughed derisively. "Were wolves not fighting? It's in our blood."  
  
"That's ridiculous," Quatre scoffed. "Maybe ingrained, but not genetic."  
  
Heero shook his head sharply and said, "Enough. Things don't change in a day and we will return before anyone makes their move. Come or stay. I'm going after Duo."  
  
Heero loped out of the forest and into the hilly countryside, feeling exposed and vulnerable, but determined. Trowa followed without hesitation. Quatre was slower and he looked exhausted. Heero didn't think that he would be able to keep up for much longer. He almost hoped that he would fall back. The smaller, lighter were fox wouldn't have a chance against a were tiger. Not that he had much of one himself, he thought sourly.  
  
It seemed impossible, but they never caught up to the were tiger. Her scent stayed close, but never close enough where they felt confident that they would catch up to her. At last, even Heero had to admit that he couldn't go any further. He fell into the tall grass, flat on his side, and felt the world going dark as he tried to catch his breath. For a long while all he could hear was the rapid beating of his over worked heart.  
  
Quatre caught up, almost crawling in his exhaustion. He whimpered. Trowa whispered something in his large ears and curled up around him.  
  
He had not saved Duo, Heero thought, and felt his failure keenly. He was glad for the cover of the tall grass. He rolled onto his back and felt like crying , staring up at the moon and the stars. In his mind, though, he could hear Wu Fei's furious voice asking him if he was weak, if he was a cub to give up so easily. He had left his duty behind and defied the were dragon who had been his friend and his mentor. Sacrificing so much, he couldn't fail, not with Duo's life at stake. As soon as he was rested, he promised himself, he would go on, with or without Trowa and Quatre.  
  
When Heero dreamed, he was running again, only he could see the were tigress ahead of him, easily keeping ahead and laughing. She was carrying Duo in her jaws, like a cat carries a kitten, and Heero dimly wondered how she could laugh and carry him like that at the same time.  
  
"Prince?" Trowa shook at Heero and he woke with a start. The sun was just touching the tops of the hills with a golden glow.  
  
Heero was stiff all over. He rose and limped, trying to loosen his muscles. Quatre was nosing through the tall grass, his tail a waving banner as he wove this way and that. There were some alarmed squeaks and then he was coming back with some neatly killed rabbits, their necks twisted.   
  
They didn't have time to cook. Trowa pulled the rabbits apart and handed each of them a share. He bit into his own without comment, but Heero and Quatre looked at their share with sick expressions.  
  
"I could make a quick fire," Quatre began, but Trowa snorted.  
  
"Too much time to cook. We have to go." Trowa finished his share with a crunch and swallow and then looked at them expectantly.  
  
Heero was the first to attempt to eat his. He made a face and began tearing off and swallowing chunks, trying not to taste it. The fresh blood was in his nose, though, metallic and strange, and his stomach clenched. Quatre was more delicate, taking small bites and going paler and paler with each swallow. When it was done, he wiped his bloody fingers on the grass and shuddered.  
  
"Now," Heero growled and tried to scent the were tigress over the scent of their kill. It came, as strong as ever, and he felt great relief. She must have finally stopped as well. If they hurried, they might still catch her sleeping.  
  
"Quietly," Heero warned, "She could be anywhere in this tall grass."  
  
They loped, bodies kept low, and hoped that her scent would strengthen and give them some clue as to where she might be. Instead, it grew fainter. Heero stopped at last, beginning to panic.  
  
"She's turned somewhere," he guessed.  
  
"If she's going to the Savannah..." Quatre thought for a moment and then he looked worried. "She has to skirt a mountain range. There's a narrow pass to the East of us. She must have taken another route there."  
  
Trowa snapped suddenly, "I know a way, used by bandits mostly. It's dangerous."  
  
"Lead the way," Heero ordered.  
  
Trowa glared. "We are following an assassin tigress onto a bandit's road."  
  
"Lead the way or show me where it is," Heero snarled. "I am not stopping."  
  
Trowa measured him slowly up and down and then he nodded as he turned and began loping quickly towards the East. "It is my home. I'm not the one who has to be afraid."  
  
\+   
  
Duo came back to consciousness being dumped onto the hard ground. He whimpered and tried to save himself the fall, but his arms and legs were bound tightly. His breathing was hampered by a gag that kept his deadly jaws apart. It had cut the side of his mouth and he could taste blood. His head pounded pain at a point near his temple and his entire body felt bruised. "Lie still, cub," a female voice told him. "If you give me too much trouble I will take your pelt and deliver that to King Zechs."  
  
Duo focused with an effort. It was dark, but the moon was high over head and he could make out the outline and glittering eyes of a were tigress. She was very large, dwarfing him, and her dark stripes helped her to slip in and out of shadow as she approached and looked him over.  
  
"A shame that I didn't get your lover prince as well, but his time will come," she continued as she removed his gag.   
  
Duo's cheeks burned. He remembered a heady scent, Heero's strong body wrapping around his own, and an overpowering urge to... His tail lashed in embarrassment and agitation. If they had not been interrupted would Heero have gone on? Would he have kept his tail lifted and allowed Heero to... to... mate him like a female? Duo's gut tightened. At the time, he had wanted that... wanted it more than anything, but had it been his true choice or the choice of confused hormones and that wild scent of the Prince's? How could he want to cross the line of species and allow a were wolf to be his dominant?  
  
"Do as I say and you will live," the were tigress was telling him. Her clawed fingers checked his leather bonds, scratching across his skin. "You are so small, but not young, I think, to have given off a scent like the one I smelled in the forest. Foolish cub," she tisked. "It led me directly to you, a Savannah were lion's scent in the home of forest weres."  
  
"Where are you taking me?" Duo asked weakly.  
  
"Home," She said simply.  
  
It should have made Duo feel less afraid, but he knew what waited for him there. "What does Zechs want with me?"  
  
She snickered. "He thinks that it was a mistake to send you away. He wants reconciliation."  
  
"Liar," Duo snorted.  
  
She smiled and her mouth was full of very long and very sharp teeth. "Not so innocent, I see," she almost purred."It's politics, cub, and that's the truth. He hasn't had any cubs with his females. The were lions ridiculously made engendering cubs a requirement for their rulers. Solo claims Zechs is his father, and his mother supports his claim."  
  
"Another lie," Duo growled. "He was born before Zechs took the Sun pride."  
  
She shrugged. "Who's to say if the female will not tell? Your 'mother' has promised to claim the same for you. Zechs, King of all the prides, will claim you as his son. Two cubs will be enough to satisfy nervous old weres and his rule will not be questioned afterward."  
  
"I saw him mate, Solo as well," Duo told her, puzzled. "Why haven't there been any cubs?"  
  
"Are you certain they were mating with females, young cub?" The were tigress asked archly.  
  
Duo thought about that, trying to remember half seen figures in the tall grasses. He wasn't sure, but Solo had bragged... another lie?  
  
"There are only you and his second, Solo," she told him. "You can become a prince. You can live at your ease, with Solo, as son's of King Zechs. You can make my job much easier by coming willingly, or... I can skin you and take your pelt back as proof of your existence instead." She ran a hand over his cinnamon fur. "Such unusual fur for a were lion. It's beautiful and so much better on a living were."  
  
Duo cringed, but his mind was already working. He could return home without fear and be adopted by a King. He could have Solo at his side again. The bond a were lion male formed, with other chosen males, was very strong. Outside of that bond, or claiming a pride for himself, a male's life was solitary and short. Duo was being handed the best a were lion male could hope for and Duo warmed to it... until he remembered what his duty in that triad would be; mating females and taking his turn creating the next generation. Duo blanched at the thought of it and knew that he couldn't do it. Three male were lions, who would never have cubs, ruling all the prides. It was against everything that he had been taught, but so was one male trying to rules females and males outside of his pride.  
  
"Why are the prides following him?" Duo wondered. "Why are they breaking tradition for this?"  
  
She grinned and laughed. "Power, young cub, and solitary males wanting a place other than on the dangerous, open Savannah. Zechs has promised them a great deal, even the prides of kings who will not bow to his rule."  
  
"But why war with the forest weres?" Duo persisted.  
  
She sighed and paced away as if weary of his questions."You make a common enemy if you want to bring warring prides together. The forest weres have been encroaching on our borders and making their 'houses' there. It was easy to paint them as potential conquerors."  
  
"Is this King Zechs plan, or yours?" Duo retorted.  
  
Her tail twitched and her eyes glowed as she looked back at him. "I follow his orders, but I will take actions I deem necessary. Remember that." She stretched out on the ground and made a yawning sound. "Sleep, cub. You have only a few hours before we need to travel again. By then, you must make a decision about the path your life is going to take." She went very still then and her stripes made her one with the shadows.  
  
Duo stared at the spot where he thought she was, but, when he moved to make himself more comfortable in his bonds, her glowing eyes opened elsewhere, studied him, and then closed again.  
  
Duo closed his own eyes against the ache of his head and his muscles and tried to think about his future. He sensed danger and half truths, but there was a chance that everything the were tigress said would come to pass. He tried to imagine himself at King Zechs side, leading the combined prides into war with the forest weres. He shivered. If what the were tigress said was true, then the forest weres were trespassing. The war was just. The prides could only push them back by combining together.... yet, politics and power were behind it, he was sure. It came to him that maybe Heero's Warden J might be playing the same game of false accusation and war.  
  
"Sleep," the voice of the were tigress murmured and her eyes opened in a completely different place. "Your choice is not so hard. Return home and live, or remain and die. It shouldn't be such a dilemma."  
  
Meaning he didn't have any choice. Duo thought about Heero and his heart ached. He missed him already, a part of him burning for his touch and the sight of his dark blue eyes. Foolish, childish, arrogant. Heero wore arm bands, ate cooked meat, and lived confined to houses. He was a were wolf, colored like a half breed dog, and as musky as any animal in rut. A beast, Duo's mind thought derisively and refused to remember that he had returned that scent with one of his own and just as powerfully. His aching heart overrode all of those thoughts and Duo just... wanted... wanted the were wolf's touch, his strong hands, his soft nuzzle, and his thick fur brushing against his own.  
  
"Cub!" The tigress was suddenly on him, jaws nearly at his throat and eyes like lamps in the moonlight. "Curb your scent or I will kill you here and now!"  
  
Duo realized then that his scent was heavy on the air. Her near attack was cold water on his desire and the scent banked and died. That wasn't good enough for her, though. She spat angrily, "We must go. We will rest higher in the mountains. Betray me again, cub, and I will leave you in chunks for the buzzards and for your were prince to find."  
  
She gagged Duo again and then tossed him like a sack onto her back. She tied him there tightly and then ran with powerful bounds as if he weighed nothing.


	10. Rats

"I can smell him, but it's old," Heero said, his ears laid back in anger. "Trowa. ... It smells like..."  
  
Trowa was frowning and Quatre looked frightened. "I only smell her, not anyone else" Trowa said after a long moment of lifting his nose to the light breeze. "I doubt that a female were tigress would take a... sexual interest in a unwilling were lion and I doubt someone could force one without serious wounds. "  
  
"But..." Heero tried to think and then his ears went up. "He might have been trying to scent a stronger trail for us."  
  
Quatre brightened as well. "Yes, I'm sure that's it. I think I've rested enough, my Prince. We should run again."  
  
"Your paws are getting raw," Trowa told him worriedly. "You should stay behind. You're not a tracker or a hunter, Quatre."  
  
Quatre growled and his large ears twitched in annoyance. "I am not soft. I'll run as long as I can."  
  
Trowa began to argue some more, but Heero began running again. Let them argue, he thought, or stay behind. He wouldn't let them slow him down. Wu Fei's exercises had made his lungs iron and he knew he was good for a few miles more.  
  
Heero squinted up at the afternoon sun. The were tigress would have to rest and, sooner or later, they would chose to rest themselves later than she did. They would catch up to her then. Heero thought of her large claws and teeth, her incredible strength and agility, and worried. With Duo loose, they might have a chance to defeat her, but a slight were fox and two young were wolves were hardly a match. He had to come up with a strategy.  
  
"You have to be fast," Trowa panted, suddenly beside Heero. "You have to get on her back and snap her neck or stab her. Dirty handed, but necessary. A full frontal fight will get us quickly killed."  
  
Heero nodded, not sparing breath to reply.  
  
Quatre was falling behind already. If they had other enemies than the were tigress, he was vulnerable. Heero made a decision. "Stay back with Quatre. Follow as you can."  
  
Trowa's momentary hesitation was testament to his feelings for Quatre, but he knew his duty too. "I have to protect you. If something happened to you, your were dragon would kill both Quatre and me."  
  
Heero smiled grimly, but the smile was lost a second later. He couldn't help wondering what chaos he had left at home. Wu Fei would defend his throne, Heero didn't have a doubt, but what was Relena and Dr. G doing now that she was ruler in his stead? What was Dr. J doing? What would that dangerous old were wolf do now that his power was no more? The longer he was away, the more likely it would be that Dr. J would move against Relena in the worst way.  
  
There was a sound of alarm from Quatre. He put on a burst of sped and caught up to them, tail like a banner behind him. "Wolves!" he shouted.  
  
Heero looked back, expecting weres, but saw plain wolves tracking them, following at an easy lope. They were big, pale like ghosts, and known for having such a dislike for weres, that they killed them when ever they found them.  
  
Heero knew their plan; wait until they tired, until someone lagged behind, and then attack that one with the entire pack. As long as they stayed strong and together... but Quatre was glassy eyed from the pain of his paws and his weariness. His panic was keeping him in step with them, but that wasn't going to last. If they stopped and tried to defend themselves, the pack would circle and pull them down. They had to keep running.  
  
"Up ahead," Trowa panted."The road."  
  
Heero could see it, a tall marker of stone and a tumble of rocks that was the beginning of a ragged chain of mountains. He could also see the were Tigress, her stripes and bright orange a flag in the sun as she left the hills and the green grass.  
  
"Hurry!" Heero begged. "Quatre! You must make it!"  
  
"I will, my Prince!" Quatre promised.   
  
Heero put on speed. Trowa stayed at his side and, incredibly, Quatre kept their pace. So, unfortunately, did the wolves. They were going to make it, Heero felt as he saw the were tigress struggling through the rocks with Duo on her back, hampering her movements. He doubted the wolves territory extended into the mountains, and he doubted very much that the were tigress could outdistance them now.  
  
Jaws grabbed his ankle and jerked Heero off his feet. Then a large, white male wolf was suddenly on him, fangs snapping. It had outpaced the others to catch what it considered another dominant male and it was determined to kill Heero.  
  
Heero slammed his back paws into the beast's gut, and shoved it off of him hard. He sprang after it, but Trowa was there before him, stabbing it in the heart with his blade. The other wolves stopped, scenting the death of their pack leader, but then they slowly began advancing again, wary, but still wanting their deaths.  
  
"Leave me!" Quatre panted. "I will hold them back!"  
  
"No!" Heero shouted in reply. "They would kill you quickly and still come after us. Run ahead. We will cover your retreat. Once we reach the mountains, I think they will stop."  
  
"But-" Quatre began to argue.  
  
"Go!" Heero snarled.  
  
Quatre ran. Heero and Trowa slowed their pace and kept their bodies between the smaller were fox and the pursuing wolves. The wolves could sense that they weren't the weaker of the group, even though Heero was limping from his ankle wound, and hesitated. That allowed them to reach their goal.  
  
The rocks were hard on paws. Heero winced and Trowa swore.  
  
"I've grown soft on wood floors," Trowa lamented sourly.  
  
The wolves stopped at the rock line, sniffed the edge of their territory, and then marked the rocks as if warning them not to return.  
  
"Blood!" Heero exclaimed and pointed to the splotches along the rocks leading to the road. Trowa sniffed and ran ahead.  
  
"Quatre!" Trowa called.  
  
They found him sprawled and unconscious among the rocks. Heero checked him carefully and then sighed in relief. "He's exhausted himself, but he isn't harmed."  
  
"Except for his paws," Trowa sighed as he looked at the bloody pads. "He won't be able to go on. I can find a hiding place for him..." and leave him there, Heero finished silently, but he could see Trowa's unspoken pain.  
  
"No," Heero sighed and went to a high rock to look for the were tigress. The scent came to him faintly. "She can't go quickly carrying Duo and she has to rest after this climb. We... We should rest too. We have to be strong when we attack her."  
  
"Thank you, my Prince," Trowa replied and Heero looked back at him in surprise. The mountain were had not called him that in such a reverential tone before. Perhaps he had just earned it, Heero thought. It didn't make the decision any easier for him.  
  
"Quiet," Heero said very softly as he inched up to where Duo was laying on the edge of the encampment. Duo's round ears swivelled back and his shoulders twitched, but he didn't make any other sign that he had heard. Flat to the ground, Heero was one with the shadows, his black patches, inherited from his part mountain were mother, useful for once as more than a source of embarrassment.  
  
Duo's tail lashed back in agitation, almost catching Heero in the nose. He scented fear.  
  
"I will rescue you," Heero whispered. "I have other weres with me." Heero didn't say that it was a wild mountain were wolf and a foot sore desert were fox.  
  
"No," Duo whispered back. "Dangerous."  
  
The were tigress was sitting near a fire and gnawing on the shin bone of some animal with relish. She was surrounded by a pack of bandits, made up of all different types of weres, and she looked in complete command of the ragged, but well armed band. The were tigress bit down on her bone and it snapped loudly in the quiet.  
  
"If you keep eating like that, we will all starve," a gray were wolf grumbled."Hunting is lean in these mountains."  
  
A were cheetah sneered. "Rat eater. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be able to get at the cliff goats."  
  
A were that Heero had never seen before looked part goat. It grunted as it tore into a roasted bone. "You wouldn't last a minute in these mountains, skinny were," he said around his mouthful. "We can always go back to eating mountain rats."  
  
The were tigress looked disgusted. She delicately wiped her mouth. "Enough talk. Now that Duo... Prince Duo, has decided to accompany us willingly, we have an easy journey to the Savannah."  
  
"Easy?" The Gray were wolf spat aside. "Not so easy on the back road, especially at this time of year."  
  
"Your reward will make it worth your while," the were tigress growled.  
  
"Une," The gray were retorted, "Money is nothing if you are dead."  
  
Her tail flicked irritably, a flash of orange. She didn't dignify it with a reply, but her large eyes narrowed at the were goat as if took a sloppy bite of meat dripping with grease. "Isn't that cannibalism?" she sneered.  
  
"Cani-what?" The were goat replied in confusion.  
  
Heero's ears were flat. The were tigress, Une, had said that Duo was going willingly. Duo wasn't bound any longer. He was sitting at his ease with leg of meat beside him. It was untouched and Heero recalled distantly that Duo hated cooked meat.  
  
Heero inched forward until his head was resting against Duo's lower back. He nuzzled there and sighed. "Why?" he asked softly.  
  
"It's my home," Duo replied. "They won't harm me."  
  
"You're so sure?" Heero wondered angrily. They had come so far, sacrificed so much, for this... for Duo to walk away willingly and make their sacrifice for nothing. "I left Relena on the throne as regent... for you... I left my home, left my title... for you."  
  
Heero took hold of Duo's long braid and smelled it, taking in his heady scent.  
  
"I can't follow you so far, Duo."  
  
"And I can't stay." Duo replied, but then added, "not until I know... until I see for myself."  
  
"What?" Heero wondered.   
  
"Whether there is a place for me there," Duo replied in the barest of whispers.  
  
Une's ears turned towards Duo and then she was rising, "My prince? You haven't touched your meal."  
  
"Cooked," Duo replied as Heero backed up into the shadows again. "I-I don't like cooked meat."  
  
"I can't afford for you to be finicky," Une told him firmly. "There is nothing else for you to eat."  
  
"There is," the cheetah interjected. "Let our 'Prince' hunt."  
  
Une raised an eyebrow and then measured Duo with her eyes critically. "He's just a cub."  
  
"I can hunt," Duo replied irritably and stood up to join them at the fire."You want more goats, I'll get them."  
  
Une licked her lips. "Well, I could use some more meat, but I don't want to delay our travel over much. Hunt cub, but I'll be on your paws."  
  
Duo growled in annoyance. "I said that I would go with you willingly."  
  
Une laughed. "I'm not a fool. Don't make that mistake. I'll trust you only when you are turned over to Zechs."  
  
Heero watched Duo scent the breeze and then he was gone, bounding like a spring over the rocks. The were tigress followed him at a more mature pace, but Heero knew her power, knew that she could be on him far too quickly for Duo to escape. Heero hugged the shadows and the fallen boulders, skirting the weres, and trying to keep his scent from betraying him.  
  
He was in time to see Duo spot his prey, a group of mountain goats cropping the sparse grass on what looked like the sheer side of a mountain. Impossible, Heero thought, and was afraid for the were lion. Duo didn't hesitate though. He used an outcropping for cover as he inched forward, the end of his tail twitching. When he was close enough, he sprang straight at the sheer mountain face. Heero's mouth dropped open in awe as Duo's powerful arms and legs plucked a goat from it's perch and the were lion allowed them both to fall down to a lower ledge with unerring accuracy. Duo flipped around and landed on his feet at the last moment, jaws crushing the beast's windpipe.  
  
Une sat on her haunches with a blood lust grin, but Heero looked away, nauseated as Duo feasted with relish. Heero crouched in a huddle behind a rock and listened to bones crunch. After a time, Une lost patience.  
  
"Stop, pig, or you will be too bloated to walk in the morning!"She jumped to the ledge, hefted the mauled carcass over one shoulder, and leapt down again.  
  
Watching their power and easy grace as they went back to camp, Heero felt a thread of self doubt. What did Heero's home have to offer someone like Duo? Were lions almost never left the Savannah. The cheetah traders, or the more prevalent were cougars, were over large house cats compared to these creatures. Duo would be alone, powerful, beautiful, and considered a savage by everyone. Heero was thinking that himself. Killer, savage: Duo wanted the taste of hot blood and fresh meat. He wanted the kill. There wasn't a place for that in the halls of the Keep.  
  
"Careful, Prince," Trowa's voice said in his ear.   
  
Heero started badly, tail tucking between his legs and teeth barred as he whirled on the mountain were. Heart pounding, he hissed, "How long have you been there?"  
  
"Long enough, " Trowa replied. He turned and slipped back into the shadows of the approaching darkness. Heero followed reluctantly. When they were some distance, Trowa said, "He is going back to his home, willingly. He will be where he belongs."  
  
"The were tigress is lying to him," Heero growled. "I don't know what the lie is, but I do know that she was willing to kill to get Duo."  
  
"She is an assassin," Trowa agreed. "One does not hire them to bring young weres back home."  
  
"What could be the reason for sending her then?" Heero whined as he sank down dejectedly.  
  
Trowa sat beside him, thinking. "Her success proves that the decision to send her was a good one, and it could be that she was to be Duo's executioner only if he refused."  
  
Heero made a low noise of frustration.   
  
Trowa sighed. "My prince, I know that you care for Duo, but you must see that there isn't anything we can do now? We are outnumbered and in danger. Duo is going with them willingly."He paused and then dared, "It's also possible that he will give us away if he thinks that you will try to stop him from returning home."  
  
"He's right," Quatre limped from the darkness and settled by them. His large ears were moving and twitching, keeping track of their enemy. "Duo has decided."  
  
Heero growled. "Are you suggesting that I leave him? Allow them to carry out whatever plans they have for him?"  
  
Quatre replied quietly, "Heero, it was good that you pursued him, that you made certain that Duo was safe. Now, he has made his decision. It's time to make yours. Will you follow him to the Savannah or return home to your duty?"  
  
Duty. Love. Rejection. Heero's heart ached. The image of Duo leaping on the goat and bringing it down played through his thoughts. Duo was wild, untamable. Heero was convinced that there was danger for him, but, he had seen Duo stand, rebellious, against Une's size and strength. He had not been cowed. He had not seemed foolish. He had not seemed to need rescuing. Duo had made his decision. He was going home, to a place where he could hunt and live in open spaces with his own people.  
  
"We have a saying in the desert," Quatre told him sympathetically. "If it was meant to be, it will be."  
  
Heero laid back his ears and then nodded, jaw clenching. He rose, tail down and shoulders slumped. "As soon as you can travel, Quatre, we'll go home."  
  
His home, Heero thought, not Quatre's, not Trowa's. Once again he would be alone. Once again he would dance to J's whims and fight for what was his birth right.... only he had a wife now, he realized with a chill, and they would expect him to have a child with her, an heir. Duty. Duty to his people. Duty to his wife. Duty to his land.  
  
The feel of soft fur, warm, purring breath, and a scent that called to his innermost soul and told him who his mate was. A were lion. A male were lion. Letting him go would be like allowing a part of himself to be torn away, Heero thought.  
  
Heero curled up and sank into misery.  
  
Time passed. The moon sailed overhead. Heero hadn't slept at all, imagining the enemy weres sleeping around his Duo and wondering what thoughts were going through the were lion's mind right then.  
  
"You have such a great heart," Trowa whispered.  
  
Heero stiffened but the were wolf wasn't speaking to him.  
  
Quatre's tired voice replied, "Mine is nothing compared to Heero's."  
  
"He is young," Trowa said with a sigh.  
  
"So are we, " Quatre teased.  
  
They settled into sleep after a few more endearments. Heero turned his head to look at them and found them curled up contentedly together. He would never have that, he thought, not if he went home now.  
  
Heero rose silently. He would leave them, he thought, and not burden them any longer with the madness of his heart. He would follow Duo to the Savannah alone.  
  
Heero began to slink into the darkness, going towards the camp, but then he stopped, sensing danger and not certain where it was coming from. He pricked ears and held his breath, trying to catch any hint of trouble. Une came then, materializing out of the night as stripes of deeper darkness. She was followed by her bandit weres.  
  
"Don't try to resist Prince," she warned. "I can kill you before you can twitch. Tie him."  
  
The were moved forward. Heero's ruff rose and he barred his teeth. "How?" he demanded loudly, trying to alert Trowa and Quatre. "How did you know I was here?"  
  
"I smelled your scent near the camp when we returned from hunting," Une told him. "And then I noticed that my little were lion was acting strangely."  
  
Une sniffed the darkness. "I smell others, but no one is coming to your rescue, Prince. Did you trust your life to those useless Keep guards?"  
  
Heero refused to answer.  
  
"No matter," Une said arrogantly as Heero was tied securely with rope. "They are not any match for us."  
  
"Your mistake," Heero sneered.  
  
Une smiled and it was a smile full of glittering, sharp teeth. "I think not." She turned and began walking back to camp, throwing over her shoulder, "Bring him."


	11. Rocky Roads

"If you harm him-" Duo began but one of the mountain were wolves laughed outright.  
  
"What do you have to threaten with, kitty?" he mocked."Your teeth have been pulled."  
  
Heero didn't waste time struggling as he was carried between two weres. The ropes were too tight to escape. Duo walked beside him, head down, and tail almost dragging. What was there to say? He was in danger through his own foolishness, Heero thought, not through any fault of Duo's.  
  
Heero had a long time to contemplate his fate as they climbed the rough mountain road and consider what Trowa and Quatre were doing about his capture. He doubted that they had decided to leave him to his fate. Quatre had too much heart for that and Heero suspected that Trowa's air of unconcern was at least partly false. Heero doubted that they could do anything but watch, though. There were too many weres for them to fight and his own experience with trying to reach Duo had taught him that they were not so careless as to give him a chance for escape.  
  
They rested midday. Heero was dumped into a patch of shade and his two bearers sprawled next to him. Duo settled close by, face tight and unreadable.  
  
One of the mountain weres stroked a hand along Heero's flank. Heero shivered despite himself. He saw the look the two mountain weres exchanged over his body, laughing leers, and then one said to Duo, "You have a taste for were wolves, eh, kitty?"  
  
Duo's round ears flicked, but he didn't look at them.  
  
"Not so soft or so supple as were lions," the mountain were continued, "but maybe you like that roughness; the course fur, the strong scent, the powerful, thrusting hindquarters..."  
  
Duo snarled suddenly and turned on them, ears flat and teeth barred. "Shut up or you die!"  
  
It was then that Duo saw the hand on Heero's flank, a possessive hand that was running back towards Heero's tail. The mountain were grinned at Duo. "Die? Une is looking at you, kitty. She's ready to rip you limb from limb. Are you ready to die to have a piece of me?"  
  
The mountain were was sure of his safety. When he saw Duo hesitate, he snickered.   
  
"Maybe our prince likes mounting were wolves instead?" he continued as he stood up and pulled at Heero. "Is he that good? Is he tight? Do you like that bushy tail against you when you do him? Maybe I should try him for myself?"  
  
The were wolf suddenly grabbed Heero and mounted him, his teeth going into the nape of Heero's neck. His hips began to thrust crudely. It might have been an ugly joke, a sick dry hump, just to lighten the boredom of vicious weres, but Heero was only aware of that bite, that attempt at dominance. Heero discovered then, that he was completely alpha. He reacted instantly.  
  
One of the ropes broke as Heero twisted violently, using every muscle he possessed to throw the mountain were off of him. He needn't have bothered, though. Duo was on the were, catching him before he landed. There was a high, cut off cry and a crunch. Duo's entire body covered the fallen were, his long tail lashing.  
  
"Fool," Une grunted from nearby. "He deserved that. Someone toss him over a cliff. I don't want to smell his stench."  
  
The mountain weres closed on Duo.  
  
"Tamil, you idiots!" Une snarled. "Touch one hair of Prince Duo and you will join Tamil's fate."  
  
Duo backed off of the body. Like the mountain goats, Tamil had been killed swiftly and cleanly. As they dragged the body away, Duo retreated to Heero, eyes concerned. "He didn't...?"  
  
"No," Heero replied through gritted teeth. He felt shame and hatred at himself. He had been helpless. A were had... tried to dominate him. If they would do that, what else might happen to him?  
  
"I won't let anyone hurt you," Duo promised him with pain in his voice. "I... I was too slow this time. It won't happen again."  
  
There was blood on Duo's mouth, on his claws. Were blood. He was looking at those claws in a daze now, coming down from his adrenaline rush and shivering a little.  
  
Still half bound, Heero inched over and nuzzled what he could reach, Duo's knee. Duo bent over almost at once and rubbed against his face, breath hitching. Heero was so glad for his touch, that he didn't consider the blood being smeared on him.  
  
"We'll get out of this," Heero vowed almost under his breath.  
  
Duo nodded, but then he said in a trembling voice, as if needing the distraction very badly, "I-I guess this proves you're... dominant."  
  
"Yes," Heero replied, a mere breath. His eyes searched Duo, but he already knew the answer to his question. Duo, in his own manner, had submitted to him by the lake before he was kidnaped. They were a match at least in that and Heero sighed, feeling warmth in his heart. Unmatched, there would have been fights, reluctant compromises, and... but he was thinking as if they would eventually be a mated pair, Heero thought, and didn't want to acknowledge that it might never happen.  
  
Une was wrinkling her nose as she glared at them. "Get Prince Heero tied up again and separate the love birds before they stink up the entire area! It's time to move out!"  
  
The weres didn't know the meaning of loyalty. Tamil was dumped unceremoniously and no one seemed overly upset by his murder. In fact, as Heero was bound tighter and carried, he heard dirty jokes about the were and his preference for a prince's backside. It made Heero seethe with anger, but there was nothing he could do.  
  
Duo kept by Heero's side while they climbed. The weres carrying Heero were afraid for their lives, and they made sure not to hurt Heero in any way, but he was still suffering from being bound so long and being taken into unfamiliar heights. He struggled to breathe and he felt as if the leather ropes were biting through his arms and legs.  
  
Une was suddenly there, pacing on the opposite side of Heero from Duo. She gave Heero a sideways look, her stripes making it difficult to read her _expression."You have two options," she said as if she were having a pleasant conversation with him. "You can continue to fight us and, perhaps, become permanently damaged, or you can cooperate, bow to the inevitable, and walk only lightly bound."  
  
Heero ignored her, willing to suffer rather than admit complete defeat.  
  
"Let him go," Duo begged. "You have me. If you are telling the truth, and I will be a prince, then you must obey me."  
  
"Prince," Une said with a sigh. "I am not one of your subjects. I belong only to Zechs."  
  
Duo suddenly faced her, coming around Heero with his short mane stiff with temper. His purple eyes were glowing. She looked down, her much larger body making his confrontation almost comical. One of her paws was larger than Duo's head and her claws were razor sharp. She tensed for a fight, her tail lashing.  
  
"I won't go another step like this," Duo threatened.  
  
She eyed him, looking Duo up and down slowly. "Are you so willing to die for this spotted dog? If you are loyal to Zechs, he and all his people will soon be your enemy."  
  
"I will ask Zechs for his life," Duo replied.  
  
Une sneered. "So naive," she said and then shrugged. "Untie him, but keep a tether around his neck," Une told Heero's guards. She showed her fangs and they cowered. "If he escapes under your watch, you will both die, understand?" She called ahead to the other weres. "Take a rest while Prince Heero regains the use of his arms and legs."  
  
The weres didn't complain. It was obvious that they were reluctant to reach the plains and leave their mountain home. Une glared at them as they all found comfortable places and fell asleep, some of them snoring.  
  
When Heero was untied, he could hardly move. A whimper escaped his lips, despite his attempt not to, as an agonizing 'pins and needles' sensation proceeded the return of his circulation. Duo rubbed at his limbs anxiously and the feel of his hands on him was almost worth the pain to Heero and the humiliation of having a lead tied around his neck.  
  
"Do as she says," Duo urged Heero as he crouched next to him, warm fur and scent. Heero burrowed into it. Duo stiffened in surprise and then relaxed, growling at Heero's guards to step back and not interfere. Duo licked one of Heero's ears as if unable to help himself, his rasping tongue strangely soothing. His breath thrummed in his throat.  
  
"I'm following you, not her," Heero breathed, eyes closed as he relaxed against Duo and tried to ignore the enemy watching from all around them. He was too tired and in pain to think sexual thoughts. He was in a place of contentment instead.   
  
"If Zechs wants me to be his 'son', he will have to set you free," Duo told him. "He will have to bargain."  
  
"You will not sell yourself for me," Heero growled, but then didn't want to discuss it any longer. He was too weary. He fell asleep with Duo cleaning his other ear and had a fleeting image of a mother and a furry cub that was himself. He almost chuckled at the ridiculous image, but it gave him so much warmth that it was better to let it lull him into resting.  
  
He wasn't given long. "Heero," Duo said in his ear far too soon. "We have to go. Can you walk?"  
  
Heero shivered at the cold. The temperature had dropped sharply. He felt slightly ill as he opened his eyes and realized that Duo was almost wrapped completely around him.  
  
Duo's eyes were concerned. "You don't look well."  
  
Heero shook his head. It didn't matter how he felt. He had to walk. He levered himself slowly to his feet and felt his arms and legs protesting. They held him, though, and he took slow steps to prove to himself that going further was possible. Duo hovered anxiously. Heero rubbed his cheek against Duo's briefly and then turned to face Une. She was watching him appraisingly. She nodded as if in respect and then called to her weres.  
  
"Move out!" She took the lead, tail like a banner behind her.  
  
Heero limped and ignored when one of his guards tugged on his lead when Duo wasn't looking. He braced himself to endure the humiliation. There would be retribution, he promised silently.  
  
It was then that he smelled it, faint, but familiar. Some faint hint of musk that had nothing to do with either Duo or himself. He kept himself from smiling. Trowa was out there somewhere, following them.  
  
"You are not going anywhere," Trowa said through a mouthful of ruff fur. His arms and legs were wrapped around the smaller were fox's body and he was holding Quatre down. Despite their danger, Quatre's wriggling and bucking attempts to dislodge him and rescue Heero were beginning to have their effect on him. He wasn't an untried were wolf Prince, but his arousal scent was still on the air despite his best efforts. It was hard to ignore that he was so close to the tantalizing underside of Quatre's bushy tail with a part of his anatomy that was more than willing to take advantage of it.  
  
"Trowa!" Quatre whined. "He's hurt! I have no honor if I let him suffer!"  
  
"You sound like that were dragon," Trowa grumbled. "You should have as much sense."  
  
"At least enough sense not to mount each other within a stone's throw of the enemy," Wu Fei's angry voice said from behind them.  
  
Trowa stifled a yip as he sprang from Qautre's back and whirled defensively on the were dragon. He blinked in surprise. Wu Fei looked haggard and he was covered from head to toe in furs.  
  
"You're alone!" Trowa snarled, sensing no one else. "Why did you come yourself? You were never meant for high places like this."  
  
"Tales of Prince Heero's preference for a were lion are known now," Wu Fei replied dryly."Warden J called the council together and Trieze backed him up. As soon as I realized that they were suspending Heero's title until the sex of his heir is known, I knew that a rescue party would not be mounted.. He has made himself expendable."  
  
"There isn't any heir," Trowa growled.   
  
Wu Fei snorted. "Tell me something that I don't know, mountain were. Even if Heero were attracted to females, he wouldn't have chosen Relena as a consort."  
  
"Heero is still the only heir," Trowa persisted. "You should have argued that."  
  
Wu Fei glared as if Trowa were very stupid. "Relena rules, as does Warden J and the council. They are in the middle of a power struggle. None of them are concerned about a Prince who has shown himself unworthy of the title."  
  
Quatre shook himself as he sat up and said, "Heero never really wanted to be Prince. He just didn't want Warden J to rule."  
  
"His people suffer," Wu Fei replied angrily. "They wait in unrest for someone to lead them and protect them. If we stand divided, arguing over a throne, then Zechs will find it easy to conquer us."  
  
"Then shouldn't you be there instead of here?" Trowa snarled. "Shouldn't you be leading the army? What about your duty?"   
  
"My duty is to Prince Heero," Wu Fei replied, but then he looked almost anguished as he said, "My loyalty to all factions was questioned. None of them trust me not to betray them. My leadership of the army was suspended. Trieze has full command now."  
  
Quatre suddenly cut in, "Heero is hurt! Let's not argue any longer and rescue him."  
  
Trowa tensed as if to jump on him again, but Wu Fei's voice was enough to keep the were fox from running to help Heero. "We bide our time," he said strongly, his long rows of teeth showing in a fierce _expression. "We get Heero out when they grow lazy and complacent."  
  
"They are already lazy," Trowa pointed out. "They've hardly moved down the road. They take every advantage to eat and sleep. I'm surprised Une hasn't eaten them all in disgust."  
  
Wu Fei nodded as he gripped his long knives. "We are trained. We have the advantage." He skewered Quatre with his reptilian black eyes. "As long as we are not foolish, we will rescue Prince Heero."  
  
"And Duo," Quatre reminded him.  
  
Wu Fei looked disdainful. "He is not my concern."  
  
"He's Heero's," Quatre told him. "He's... they're... almost... bonded... I think. "Quatre blushed to his earrings.  
  
Wu Fei was livid. His scales seemed to stand out from his skin and his eyes were slits. His dark crest was standing straight, like knives along his head and neck. Very slowly, as if Wu Fei was taking great pains to calm down, the crest lowered. When it was all the way down once more, he said tightly, "We will see."


	12. Fall

"Not far," Duo said encouragingly.  
  
Heero's head was down and he was suffering, but he wasn't deaf to the odd bird whistle on the wind. His ear cocked in that direction, the only sign he gave and an involuntary one.  
  
"There," Duo pointed out. "That peak. Two miles and then it's down towards the Savannah."  
  
Despite himself, Duo sounded excited. Heero grimaced as he breathed with aching lungs and tried not to blame him. Whatever the circumstances, it was Duo's home.  
  
"Don't eat tonight," Heero warned, the barest sound.  
  
Duo looked at him with a frown, wondering, perhaps, if he was ill.  
  
"Shh," Heero told him to forestall any questioning. "Just do as I say."  
  
Une looked back at them, tail twitching, but her weres were making too much noise for her to have heard anything.  
  
Heero wondered what his fate would be once he reached the Savanna. Would Zechs kill him outright, ransom him, or use him to buy Duo's loyalty? He had given away his title and his throne. He doubted that his people, or especially Warden J, would pay to have him back again. If Duo was powerless, then death seemed a certainty. That left many things undone and unsaid and very little time to remedy it.  
  
"Duo...."  
  
Duo looked at him, purple eyes worried.  
  
Heero swallowed hard. Where to begin? What to say, exactly? He had never been tactful, diplomatic, or one to dance around words. Heero steeled himself, as if he were going against one of Wu Fei's best defenses, and said, "I think... I think that I care for you, Duo... deeply. I needed to say that before-"  
  
Duo was suddenly nose to nose with him. It was hard to tell if he was angry at such close range.  
  
"I'm sorry," Heero stammered. "I know it's strange... a were wolf and a were lion, but... it's true. I won't die and not tell you... how I feel."  
  
Duo chuckled, low and throaty. "You didn't need to tell me, Heero. We both feel the same way."  
  
Duo's eyes were Heero's world, glowing and wide, and then they were kissing, licking, and rubbing together. It was brief, a stolen moment of heat, and then they were apart and panting. Duo stood closer as they began walking again.   
  
"It's not wrong," Duo said firmly.   
  
"No?" Heero managed, dazed from interrupted passion.  
  
"We... We are the same, remember? We saw..." Duo said with a bit of embarrassment. "How can it be wrong when we can..."  
  
Heero stopped and crouched, ears down, and body reacting very strongly. His scent filled the area and Duo's own scent was quick to join it. His warm body pressed against Heero and his thrumming sound was in Heero's ears. Heero began to circle Duo's waist with his arms, ready to pull Duo underneath him and do something about the heavy heat between his legs.  
  
Cold water doused them both and they separated, spluttering and shivering. Une capped her water flask with a scowl as she stood over them.  
  
"You should be glad that I did that," Une sneered as they both recovered and looked furiously at her. "If you were to take my were lion prince that way, kittens would be the last thing you'd get."  
  
Duo felt his face go red and he looked down. Heero knew, that as much as he hated her, she was right. Duo wasn't a female. Heero had to control himself and not let instinct take over. He wasn't sure how he was going to accomplish that, though. His body didn't feel under his control when passion overwhelmed him. He still wanted Duo. Heero could feel his arms and hips twitching, wanting to mount, wanting to get rid of the fire still raging inside of him.  
  
Une looked at Duo and warned, "Entangling yourself with this were wolf is a mistake. You know that. It won't be tolerated. Zechs doesn't have a use for a perverted prince. He needs to appear strong and he needs to be seen as having bred normal children." She looked around at the other weres. They were looking excited, nostrils flaring at the heavy scent on the air. "I should point out another danger. These weres haven't been near females for some time. Scenting the area, you may find more lovers than you bargain for."  
  
Duo laid back ears fearfully, but then he was growling, refused to be intimidated. "If they try it, they will die," he promised.  
  
"Don't make that necessary," Une retorted, annoyed that her tactic hadn't given her the desired result.  
  
They were left to walk again and Duo said to Heero apologetically, "Sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It's ... hard... though. I want... " He blushed and ducked his head.  
  
"I do too," Heero replied, staring hatefully after Une, but then his look softened as he rubbed noses with Duo briefly and promised, "We will have our time together. We will do things right. I won't hurt you."  
  
Duo grinned and the tips of his sharp teeth shone. "No, you won't," he replied and it had a threat as sharp as those teeth, but he softened it with love a moment later as he pressed his body along Heero's. His long tail whipped around and Heero felt it caress underneath his tail. It was brief, and he could almost call it an accident, except for the gleam in Duo's eyes. They were apart again, almost at once, and mindful to stay that way, though it was difficult now that they knew, for certain, what they were feeling for one another.  
  
"Tonight," Heero muttered under his breath and hoped that Wu Fei's plan worked.  
  
Nothing seemed to happen at first. Heero complained of stomach upset and Duo ignored his food when one of the pig like weres put it in front of him. Une frowned, but she didn't reveal her thoughts as the other weres ate noisily, brawled, and laughed until it was time to bed down for the night.  
  
"We'll hunt fresh meat in the morning," Une said to Duo before seeking her own bed. "You will need your strength for the climb down into the Savannah."  
  
She walked away and Duo exchanged a look with Heero. Une thought that they weren't eating because the meat wasn't fresh any longer. Heero hid a smile.  
  
"You're confident," Duo grumbled as he settled down beside him. His tail was lashing with his nervousness. Heero caught it and held it still.  
  
"It gives you away," Heero whispered.  
  
"And yours doesn't?" Duo snorted.   
  
Heero's tail was bristled. Heero made a conscious effort to relax it as he covertly watched the weres around them. He began to wonder if Wu Fei had not been successful in his plan after all.  
  
"Sleep. I'll watch," Duo told him.  
  
Heero smiled, kissed the end of Duo's tail, and allowed his exhaustion to overcome him at last as Duo reclaimed his tail with an irritated growl.  
  
It didn't seem long before Duo was waking him again. It was still dark and Duo's eyes were orbs of purple fire in the moonlight. "Your dragon is here."  
  
Heero sat up and felt stiff and dizzy. He blinked around them and saw the dark mounds that were sleeping weres. "How...?" he began but a scaly hand on his arm was as familiar as his own skin. He grinned at Wu Fei, who was crouched by his side and looking less than pleased. Trowa and Quatre were ranged behind him, smiling in greeting.  
  
"Quietly, my prince," Wu Fei whispered. "I don't see the were tigress..."  
  
Heero and Duo looked quickly about them and Heero felt a chill of trepidation. In the moonlight, she could be a few feet away and invisible, but Wu Fei could sense her heat.  
  
"The others are sleeping," Wu Fei assured him, "but all of us together may not be a match for the were tigress if she attacks."  
  
"Why should I attack?" Une's laughing voice said from the darkness. "Prince Duo will go where I wish, with or without my escort. I will go ahead and announce his arrival to King Zechs. Until then."  
  
Wu Fei gave a cold look to Duo and then said to Heero, "Come, the sleeping potion will not last long."  
  
"Go," Duo told Heero sadly, but there was determination in his voice as well. "Une is right, I still must go to the Savannah." He came very close to Heero, touched noses, and then rubbed along the side of Heero' cheek with a soft rumble of frustration. "I don't want you to leave me, but it's my home, Heero, and it means death for you if you follow me there."  
  
"Enough!" Wu Fei snarled in anger. "My prince, you know where your duty lies and where your home is. This were lion is speaking sense. Listen to him. There is only death at the hands of your enemy if you pursue this course."  
  
Heero reached out and cupped Duo's cheek with his hand. He brought him close and kissed him, not caring who saw them. "In your land, you believe in destiny," Heero told Wu Fei as he broke the kiss and looked at him. "You've told me often enough that your destiny was with me. Because of that, you've been loyal to me for all of these years. I'm feeling the same way, Fei. I know where my destiny lies, and I can't deny it, no matter what might happen. Take Quatre and Trowa back home. I have to go with Duo."  
  
Wu Fei was very quiet for a long moment and then he exploded, "Madness! I can see that my arguments will not make any difference. You are young and foolish and you are not a fit Prince for the throne."  
  
Heero bristled, but the accusation was a true one. He didn't have anything to say that would counter it. He ducked his head and then admitted, "I was born to it, but, you're right, I'm not fit and... I don't want it. I've burned my bridges already."  
  
Wu Fei said, with an irritable twitch of his crest, "Rumors are rumors and they can be dispelled if you are there to deny them... without your were lion."  
  
"For how long?" Heero wanted to know, "How will I marry? How will I have children? My people will know the truth in the end."  
  
"And if Warden J and G lead your land into disaster?" Wu Fei asked.  
  
"I wanted to keep J from the throne because I disliked him, but I don't think that I am a better choice," Heero growled. "I'm not a leader."  
  
Wu Fei sighed. "No, I've known that. You are a soldier, the best soldier I've seen. With maturity and more training..." He looked around them at the sleeping forms and then back at Heero. "Enough talk. It's a waste of time. Your decision is made. Lead on, my... Heero."  
  
Heero didn't expect that to hurt, that final stripping of his title, but he knew that he was truly following his heart and his destiny at last. It took a moment before he registered exactly what Wu Fei had said.  
  
"You're going with me?" he asked in shock.  
  
"Of course," Wu Fei hissed angrily. "You are following your destiny and I must follow mine. It is with you, at your side, whether you are a prince or not."  
  
Quatre chuckled. "Now that we have that settled, may we go before we are all captured? I for one would like the warm Savannah after so many days of mountain cold."  
  
"I've been enjoying it," Trowa said.  
  
Quatre snorted, "Then you can stay and keep our enemy company."  
  
Trowa grimaced and nuzzled along Quatre's shoulder in reply. He wasn't going to leave his were fox.  
  
Duo was astonished, looking from one to the other, and then he snarled, "You are all fools! It is death for you, where I am going! I don't even know if I will be safe."  
  
"Duo's right," Heero agreed. "You must all return home. I won't allow my decision to lead you into disaster."  
  
"You are not a Prince any longer," Wu Fei reminded him. "We don't have to follow your orders."  
  
Heero scowled and Duo looked frustrated.  
  
Quatre smiled and said. "Both of you, don't try and fight our loyalty to our friends. You won't win."  
  
Duo looked up at that, surprised that Quatre considered him a friend.  
  
"Come, we need to go at once," Wu Fei commanded and took the lead with an air that didn't allow for a challenge to his authority. The others followed obediently.  
  
"I know who should have been a prince," Heero chuckled under his breath, but he was worried as well. He looked back, wondering how long their enemy would sleep and why the were tigress had not been affected by whatever Wu Fei had done to them. That begged another question.  
  
"How did you make them sleep?" Heero asked Quatre.  
  
Quatre grinned. "I'm quick and I'm a good throw with desert hunting darts. Wu Fei prepared a sleeping herb and placed it into cloth packets. I tossed them into their food." He frowned. "The were tigress didn't eat."  
  
Heero nodded. "I think she was waiting for fresh meat. She was planning on hunting in the morning."  
  
"She is so sure of me," Duo said, disturbed. His tail lashed nervously, almost in Heero's face. He caught it and used it to pull Duo back to him. He hooked an arm around Duo's waist.  
  
"She is sure of me as well," Heero said. "She knows I'll follow you. She doesn't have to risk herself taking us to the Savannah."  
  
"We are all fools," Duo grumbled.   
  
"Yes," Trowa agreed as they made their way through the rocks, picking their way in the moonlight, "but it is our choice to be fools."


	13. Savannah

Quatre and Trowa seemed very close that evening. Heero watched them shyly as they lay together near the small fire and ate their cooked food, talking in low tones. There was a softness about them, especially in the way that they looked at one another. They looked warm and comfortable and...  
  
Heero looked over at Duo, who was busily crunching the bones of his latest kill. It was the part that he had refused to let them cook. Duo's face was full of blood, his sharp teeth bared, as he worked over the leg bone. His purple eyes were glowing in contentment. He didn't look soft and warm or prone to sit and talk. He looked like a creature of the moment, a creature of savage action; all muscle, teeth, and claw. Still, Heero felt an appreciation of that, a tingling excitement watching Duo's claws flex on the rent hide of the beast, and an uncomfortable heat when he finished and began cleaning himself with a large, rasping tongue.   
  
"Heero," Wu Fei said in a low tone meant for only his ears.  
  
Heero sighed and looked at his one time guard. He felt at a loss that he had given up at least that part of his life. Without his title, he couldn't understand why Wu Fei would risk himself and follow a foolish were. He would sorely miss that unquestioning devotion, that constant companionship, if it proved that destiny was not enough to keep them together.  
  
"May I give you some advice?" Wu Fei asked, as if he knew that it was going to be unwelcome.  
  
Heero nodded, though he had more than proven that he wasn't willing to listen to it.  
  
"Allow the were lion-"  
  
"Duo," Heero corrected, not liking that tone that relegated Duo to the category of dumb beast.  
  
The pause was telling, but Wu Fei complied, "Duo, then. Allow him to continue on alone once we reach the Savannah. We can hide ourselves while he discovers the mood and intentions of his people towards us. There isn't any reason to walk into our deaths. You will be near your... Duo... and still remain safe."  
  
That was reasonable. "All right," Heero agreed and couldn't help grimacing. Their roles were reversed. Duo had hidden, like a fugitive, in the woods around the Keep, waiting for Heero to visit him. Now they would be lurking in the Savanna, waiting for Duo to come to them.   
  
And if he didn't? What if Duo discovered that his old life was preferable to a perverted one with a were wolf?  
  
"If it is meant to be, it will come to pass," Wu Fei told him, guessing his thoughts. "You cannot force destiny. It is or it isn't."  
  
That was wisdom, but Heero's heart didn't care.   
  
Quatre chuckled and then he said to them as he rose, "Trowa and I are going to... look at the stars."  
  
Trowa smirked and said nothing as he followed the were fox into the rocks and scrub brush. Heero felt a hot blush, not too innocent to understand. Wu Fei hissed in disgust, not because he disapproved of them, but because he saw it as an unnecessary danger . The were tigress was still out there and there was no telling whether her mercenaries had decided to pursue them or not.  
  
Duo was oblivious. Stomach over full and distended, he was flopped over on his side, a stomach with arms and legs. Wu Fei hissed again. "How will he travel like that?"  
  
"He can," Heero recalled and smiled fondly. "I think that I will prepare myself for my ancestors," Wu Fei said under his breath. "I have little confidence that we will survive this idiocy." He moved off, composed himself, and seemed to meditate.  
  
Heero felt alone and that gave him time to think. His eyes went to the darkness of the rocks and the scrub brush. His thoughts went to Trowa and Quatre and a thing he knew nothing about. He felt embarrassed, ashamed, but the thought that, someday, he and Duo might have that same closeness... He had images of hurting Duo, of making a serious mistake that might drive the were lion away. If he could see, if he could learn...  
  
Heero went very low to the ground, ears flat and tail trailing the ground, as he used his odd spots to make him one with the shadows. Quatre was a pampered son, but Trowa was more canny. Heero knew that he would have to one with the night breeze to escape his notice.  
  
He heard them talking softly first and then he heard Quatre sigh in pleasure.  
  
"I love when you do that," Quatre said with a light chuckle. "Are you sure you weren't trained in a harem?"  
  
"It's all natural ability," Trowa replied.  
  
Under a low bush, Heero saw them laying together just ahead. Trowa was sensually licking Quatre's large ears, paying particular attention to the areas around his earrings. He was almost on top of Quatre, as if he had pinned him down. Quatre was smiling though, blue eyes half closed and the moonlight playing over their bodies.  
  
Quatre rolled suddenly and then he was looking up at Trowa. He reached up and played in Trowa's hair, in his ruff, and then he was pulling him down for a kiss. His thick tail swished back and forth along the ground and Trowa's was stiff and bristled.  
  
"Who knows what will happen when we go into the tall grasses," Quatre said. "We should be together, in case our days end there and we never have another chance at love."  
  
Trowa snorted. "I thought you believed that we go on past death?"  
  
"I might be wrong," Quatre replied and then they were kissing again.  
  
Trowa moved off of Quatre then, but Quatre was smiling and parting his legs. Trowa rubbed his face along Quatre's fur there, making a sighing sound, and then his head was dipping down between them. Quatre gripped Trowa's hair and groaned, throwing his head back as Trowa's tongue stroked what was hidden by Quatre's fur. It didn't stay hidden long and Heero found himself swallowing hard, only his fear of discovery and his youthful uncertainty keeping his own body in check, as he saw a swollen, red erection present itself to Trowa's lapping tongue.  
  
"Beautiful," Quatre moaned. "You are my sheik, Trowa."  
  
Trowa chuckled. "And you are my Spring after a hard Winter."  
  
"Poetry from a mountain were," Quatre marveled breathlessly.  
  
"Don't tell anyone," Trowa grumbled and then his head moved lower and Quatre gripped his hair, legs rising higher as he groaned. It sounded like a growl, but it was deep and full of passion.  
  
Heero knew what Trowa was doing. With great care, the mountain were was preparing Quatre to receive him with his tongue, his clawed fingers held away from sensitive flesh. Heero wondered how he kept himself under control. He could see Trowa's excitement, large and ready as it protruded from his fur, and he could see the small, involuntary thrusts of his hips from time to time. Trowa was ready and his scent was earthy and full of heated hormones as it mingled with Quatre's lighter scent.  
  
Trowa waited, though, patience itself, until Quatre flushed a deep red and then turned and presented himself. Quatre's tail settled back and over his spine and his upper body bowed to the ground. Trowa was on his back then, legs and arms on either side. His teeth bit into Quatre's ruff and Quatre moaned, blue eyes rolling back, as Trowa entered him, slow and careful.  
  
Locked together, Quatre filled with Trowa, they paused as if savoring the moment, and then Trowa couldn't hold back any longer. His thrusts were powerful, primal, and Quatre was moaning and lifting himself to meet them. His earrings jingled and his arm bands clashed together. He looked exotic, beautiful, and submissive. Trowa was strong, powerful muscles flexing and bunching, dominance itself.  
  
Trowa came first, grabbing Quatre around the middle and driving in deep with hard spasms. Quatre came a moment later, spilling hot seed over his belly and the rocks. They didn't part immediately, though. Trowa settled on Quatre's back, still joined together, and cleaned Quatre's ears with his tongue, a smile on his face and his eyes drooped in contentment. Quatre was languid beneath him, obviously happy.  
  
Heero slunk away, his own excitement heavy between his legs. He found a very cold rock and pressed himself down flat against it, allowing the shock of cold to make his own desires fade. It wasn't as easy to drive the images from his head, especially when he imagined himself and Duo in their place. Could he? With a were lion? Would it be the same? At least a were fox and a were wolf had common ground when it came to instincts. A mistake with Duo could end in a very messy death for himself, Heero knew, yet he wanted to try.  
  
Quatre's words came back to Heero and he knew that he was right. They might all die when they reached the Savannah. There might not be another chance to be together. As Heero returned to the camp and settled near Duo, he decided that he would make Duo his before they moved down into the tall grasses.  
  
Duo burped and rolled onto his back, exposing his distended, furry belly to the moonlight. Not tonight, Heero thought with an affectionate grimace. He nuzzled Duo, curled up beside him, and then went to sleep.  
  
+  
  
"I don't sense any pursuit," Wu Fei said with a frown. "Either the mercenaries are very clever at hiding themselves or they are too lazy to follow us."  
  
"Too lazy," Trowa decided with a snort. He was in a relaxed mood and Heero blushed when Quatre nuzzled him, from time to time, as they walked. He wanted that with Duo, that sure knowledge that they were a couple.  
  
Duo was uncomfortable, but he walked beside Heero, his body language telling Heero that he was irritable. He was going against a nature that told him to find a sunny spot and sleep until his heavy meal was digested. His belly still looked full, but not as badly as the night before.  
  
Duo gave Heero a suspicious look. "You're staring," he said with a warning growl.  
  
Heero dared to ask, "Why do you eat so much? We're not starving."  
  
"We don't have servants to kill, cook, and serve our food on the plains," Duo explained. "We have hunting parties. Sometimes hunting is good, sometimes it isn't. You eat when you can."  
  
"Why?" Heero asked and then added quickly, when Duo looked annoyed, "Why live that way? Why not live as my people do, by raising your own food, living in homes, and warming yourselves with fire?"  
  
Duo gave Heero a disgusted growl. "If someone wishes to live that way, they know where they can go," Duo replied. "The forests weres to the south live that way. On the plains, things are different, but good. We like our life." His purple eyes sparkled. "Don't judge a life you haven't lived."  
  
Heero nodded and then looked down the steep trail they were trying to negotiate. "I guess I'll have my chance."  
  
Duo sobered then and replied, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes," Heero replied without hesitation.  
  
"How can you be?" Duo demanded as if they were about to have an argument.  
  
"If you have to ask, then maybe we don't feel the same way?" Heero replied and it pained him until he saw Duo nod in understanding.  
  
"I know. I just wish-" Duo began, but Heero cut him off.  
  
"I've decided and you know my reason for it," Heero told him. "Don't try to convince me to stay behind, Duo. I won't."  
  
Duo sighed. "I don't know what we are going to do. It's..."  
  
"Frightening, I know," Heero finished and ignored Duo's bristling and the lash of his tail, "I'm frightened too. I don't know what will happen to us, but I do know that we need to face it together."  
  
Duo suddenly leaned and kissed Heero. He head butted him then and smiled as he said, "I've never met anyone like you."  
  
"Good," Heero replied with a grin, "because I'm the only one for you."  
  
Duo grinned, showing all his sharp teeth. He turned and his tail lashed Heero in the face. "You are very confident of that," he said.  
  
Before Heero could reply, Wu Fei snapped, "Stop mooning over each other and watch how you travel! This trail is dangerous."  
  
Admonished, Heero indulged in a last snatch at Duo's tail. He closed his teeth on it, gave it a tug that made Duo laugh, and then brought his concentration back to where it belonged.  
  
When night came, the sky was clear and Duo's fur caught the glow of the moon on the tips of his fur. His eyes were purple fire as he looked at Heero in a way that made Heero tingle all over. Trowa and Quatre settled together and seemed to sleep, but Wu Fei was the self appointed guard, and it was hard to face his frown as Heero finally rose.  
  
"Duo, would you... would you walk with me?" Heero asked nervously. "We can see the moon better from over... there." Heero felt himself go hot and cold as Duo looked at him curiously, as if nothing could get him out of the warm spot that he had made for himself. Then, with his ears cocked oddly, he rose. He looked over at Wu Fei.  
  
Wu Fei hissed in disgust. His crest rose and then settled with a rattle against each other. He grunted and deliberately turned his back on them in disapproval.  
  
"Bad tempered dragon," Duo growled under his breath.  
  
"It's his way," Heero told Duo with a chuckle and then decided that playing the romantic wasn't in his nature. "I want you, Duo. Come with me and we'll be... together."  
  
Duo blinked, shocked, but then he understood. "We may not have another chance..."  
  
"No," Heero agreed softly, but he didn't want it to be a time of sadness. He carressed Duo's cheek and breathed in his ear with a smile, "Come."  
  
Duo's ears came forward and he warmed. Heero could feel it against his skin. "Yes," Duo replied and he followed Heero into the rocks.  
  
They found a flat spot bathed in moonlight and then lay together until it warmed under their bodies. They kissed and caressed, Heero licking Duo's delicate ears. He was pleased by Duo's soft growling purr of contentment, but that purr ceased when they both looked at each other in nervous anticipation.  
  
Duo, surprisingly, was first to begin. He nosed into the fur between Heero's legs and Heero lifted one leg aside. He wasn't sure about what Duo intended until he felt the rasping tongue lap along his length. Heero twitched and refused the urge that wanted him to start away and close his legs. He was rewarded by Duo closing his mouth around him, warm, wet, and tight, and sucking him in.  
  
Heero's hands locked into Duo's short mane and he bowed over the were lion, groaning. His scent was heavy on the air and Duo's scent danced around it, mingling with it, and driving him wild with want. Duo was careful to keep his sharp teeth in check and Heero wondered where he had learned to do it. He exploded into Duo's mouth all at once, unable to keep himself from coming.   
  
Duo finally released him and Heero was panting as Duo looked up again into his eyes, smiling as he licked his lips.  
  
"That..." Heero tried, but then couldn't say anything more as he struggled against a bodily satisfaction that was warring with his mental disappointment.  
  
"I saw Trowa and Quatre do it," Duo said, his smile dropping and concern suddenly in his eyes. "Was it... you look... Was it wrong?"  
  
Heero shook his head, embarrassed that Duo had been watching Trowa and Quatre as well for lessons, but then replied, "It was wonderful, but... I wanted this to be different. I wanted us together."  
  
Duo laughed as he turned and lifted his tail over his back. Heero felt himself go stiff and hot at the sight. His body wasn't done yet and Duo knew it. "If you are done already, I'll return to camp," Duo teased.  
  
Heero was capturing Duo then, locking strong arms around his waist and pulling him back until his pelvis met against Duo's ass and his obvious excitement. "I'm not done yet."  
  
"Good," Duo purred and his eyes half closed as Heero nuzzled against him.  
  
"So, "Heero whispered into a rounded ear. "You watched Trowa and Quatre as well. Did you see everything they did?"  
  
Duo nodded and said huskily, "Yes."  
  
"Is it something that you would like to do?" Heero wondered.  
  
"Yes," Duo breathed and pressed back against Heero. "With you. I don't know why, but it must be with you. I only want you."  
  
"I feel the same," Heero told him. "Careful," he warned. "Slow. I don't want to hurt you."  
  
"And I don't want to hurt you," Duo replied.  
  
A were lion was not a were wolf. Heero kept that firmly in mind as he released Duo and made gentle, tentative, touches on Duo's body. When Duo sighed in pleasure, Heero was confidant enough to go further. He leaned in and used his tongue to prepare Duo, every nerve alert for any sudden, negative reaction. Duo lifted his tail and couldn't help a wonton rise of his hips to meet Heero's tongue. His claws scratched the rocks.  
  
Submissive, Heero thought. He is my mate. I will have him. I will be his dominate. It was hot instinct raging through him and centering heavily between his legs. When Duo opened to his tongue, Heero lost control. It was a trigger, a last surrender. He found himself gripping Duo and biting down on the nape of Duo's neck. His mouth filled with scent, were lion fur, and heated skin as his hips started forward to push into the body beneath him.  
  
Duo went limp, completely limp, as if he had fallen asleep. He hung in Heero's jaws, falling out of position and foiling Heero's aim. He stabbed into cold air repeatedly before he gathered enough sense to rein himself in and let Duo go.  
  
"Duo?" Heero exclaimed, worry bringing him back to himself.  
  
Duo became alert at once, his muscles coming back under his control as he looked over his shoulder at Heero. "Why did you do that?" he demanded angrily and then one paw lashed out in his fury. "Were you going to force me?"  
  
Heero jumped back and the claws rent the air. "I- I don't understand!" he exclaimed in confusion.  
  
Duo was glaring, his purple eyes fire in the moonlight."You don't?" he demanded suspiciously.  
  
"No," Heero replied anxiously. "Duo we are... different."  
  
Duo took a deep, steadying breath. "Don't do that again. It's..." It was hard to admit to a vulnerability and Heero didn't want Duo to continue.  
  
Heero dared to come forward and nuzzle Duo's face. Duo allowed it. "I'm sorry," Heero told him. "I won't do that again."  
  
They lay together then, deciding not to rush to continue. Heero was ready to let the chance go all together, anything to comfort and reassure Duo, but Duo was suddenly moving and rubbing against him suggestively.  
  
"Again?" Duo purred.  
  
"Again," Heero agreed with a soft smile.  
  
Heero took his time preparing Duo again and he had his instincts under tight control as he settled on Duo's back again. Instincts were strong and to be fought against. Trowa had told him as much. That lesson was even more important at that moment. Heero pushed into Duo slowly. Duo groaned and his claws spread out on the rock, but he allowed Heero to continue.  
  
"Feels... strange," Duo breathed.  
  
"Hurt?" Heero choked out as he was squeezed in a tightness that was making his every sense go mad.  
  
"Mmm," Duo said as if he wasn't sure how to answer.  
  
"Duo?" Heero prompted, knowing that he was on the edge of his control.  
  
Duo pushed back. "All right... good..." Duo replied at last. "Need... I need..."  
  
"I know, " Heero groaned and fell over that edge. He gripped Duo around the waist and could only keep himself from grabbing Duo's nape as he claimed his mate at last.  
  
Strong, thrusting, bodies joined and exulting in that joining, every sense pulled under by that all consuming need. It lasted an eternity or only a few moments, it was impossible to know. They seemed suspended in time, bodies crashing together frantically as they both struggled to achieve release and an answer to the desires within them.  
  
Heero came first, drawing Duo's hips up as he claimed him by filling him with his hot come in violent spurts. Duo cried out, and his orgasm hit him hard, as Heero spasmed inside of him and made him come over his furry belly and the rocks beneath them. They stayed locked together afterward, settling, Heero still on top and Duo stretched out beneath him, heavy lidded and sated.  
  
With a smug and loving smile, Heero cleaned Duo's ears tenderly.  
  
"My ass hurts... but... I want you again," Duo breathed languidly. "I'm a pervert."  
  
"So am I, because I want you again too," Heero replied.  
  
"Keep doing that," Duo sighed contentedly.  
  
"Forever, love," Heero replied with a chuckle and continued to lick his mate's ears.


	14. Sun Clan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Rough sexual handling of Duo by Zechs, but no actual NCS

"I'm of the Sun clan," Duo said as he touched the tattoo on his arm. "That's my birth, so that everyone knows my fathers."  
  
"Fathers?" Heero was puzzled, pacing beside his new mate, ahead of the others, as they made their way through an endless sea of tall grass; a sea, just over their heads, that made them blind unless they rose up to see over the top. Duo had warned them against that. Their best protection, he had said, was to stay low and stay on all fours.  
  
Duo shrugged. "King's change. Only the king has children with the females."  
  
Heero shook his head in confusion. "I don't understand."  
  
"You wouldn't want to mate your aunt or your niece accidentally," Wu Fei said behind him. "Identifying a birth clan, is a good way to keep that from happening. A good idea for such a nomadic people."  
  
"But... if the fathers move from clan to clan," Heero tried to reason, "doesn't that confuse things?"  
  
"They don't," Duo said and then amended, "Usually. Losing a clan king often involves that king's death. If they survive and claim another clan, though, then their children wear their father's clan sign."  
  
Heero frowned. "My head hurts," he complained. "What about the sons that are driven out?"  
  
"If they start a new clan, they choose a new clan sign. If they take over another, those children become their birth sign children."  
  
"You were adopted, though," Heero pointed out. "Why are you wearing a sun sign if you don't come from the sun clan?"  
  
Duo went very quiet.  
  
Heero quickly said, "If I've offended you, I'm sorry, Duo."  
  
"No, I'm not offended," Duo assured him, but his purple eyes were sunk in memory. "I don't know who my birth clan is. I was unmarked. That's a very sad thing for a child of the Savannah. It means that my mother birthed me as a clan outcast or... she didn't care to keep me."  
  
Heero nuzzled Duo. "I've made you remember something sad. That wasn't my intention, love."  
  
Duo shrugged, but his tail swung up and draped over Heero's back. "It's all right, Heero. I can't change my past, just... wonder about it. That isn't your fault."  
  
Quatre said carefully, "It is said that purple eyes are a sign of bad luck, but I curse a mother foolish enough to abandon a child because of it."  
  
Duo was nodding, though. "I've been told this before. My foster mother was told to leave me because of my eyes, but she's always been a level headed female and not superstitious."  
  
"I would call that lucky," Heero told him with a chuckle. "The superstition must be wrong then."  
  
Duo laughed as well, coming out of his mood. "I've gone through so much, and come back home without much harm, and..." he blushed, "...with you."  
  
Wu Fei was looking skeptical. "It isn't over yet. I would withhold judgement, if I were you."  
  
Quatre made an exasperated sound. He nipped at Wu Fei's dangling crest and Wu Fei hissed at him as Quatre admonished, "Stop seeing the black side of things, dragon! We have come through great odds and we are all whole and healthy."  
  
Heero still felt tired, but his breathing was returning to normal at the lower altitude. He had to agree with Quatre. Their arrival there, whole and healthy, was nothing short of miraculous.  
  
"We need to find a place to camp," Trowa said, as if he were impatient with their talk. "We need to be able to see in all directions, yet remain hidden. We need water... food."  
  
"Wise," Wu Fei replied, all too willing to change the subject. His crest rippled as if daring Quatre to nip at him again, as he suggested, "There are patches of stone. We should choose-"  
  
"Most of them are already occupied," Duo warned. "It's better to find termite mounds. They are very hard and high, and they are a good source of food."  
  
Heero made a face. "Termites?"  
  
Duo snorted. "If you're desperate, but I meant the animals that come to eat the termites. "  
  
"There will be water there as well?" Wu Fei wondered.  
  
Duo shrugged. "I can't say. It's hot. Water dries quickly. There aren't many established watering holes. If there are, you can be sure there is a clan nearby claiming it."  
  
"Then we may have to travel to get water," Heero decided, "since we can't hope for water and a place to hide in one place."  
  
"The clans don't share," Duo warned, "and they aren't 'civilized', as you see it. They'll kill you if they find you at their watering places."  
  
Heero smiled as he looked back at the others and saw their answering determination. "We know, Duo," Heero replied. "We're ready for that." "Good," Duo sighed, "because I'm not."  
  
They found an old fallen tree to give them shade near a few high termite mounds. A band of hyenas had taken up residence, but Duo roared and rushed them and they quickly gave up their choice spot.  
  
"This will do until it rains," Duo said as he snorted at the rank smell left behind. "You can take the tree branches and make your own cover away from the hyena droppings."  
  
"What happens when it rains?" Heero wondered as Wu Fei immediately set to work getting the others to strip branches and weave them together.  
  
Duo eyed the sky and sniffed. "I don't think you need to worry about that. Rain is scarce here, but this is a wash. The rain collects here, and makes a small lake, before it flows to the south. That's why no one with reason has claimed it. You can find water-"  
  
"I have a nose too, I can smell it, " Heero growled, hackles rising a little. Here, Duo was in his element, sleek, glowing, and relaxed under the sun, while Heero was panting under that same heat and feeling at a loss. He didn't like that feeling and he was eager to get his bearings and reassert himself as alpha.  
  
Duo's eyes narrowed and he retorted, "I didn't ask you to lift your tail, so don't snap at me."  
  
Heero lowered his head, but he was still on edge. "I'm sorry. I've never been where I didn't know the land."  
  
"That is when you learn what others have to teach you," Wu Fei said wisely. "This is not a time for pride, my Prince."  
  
It was a title that was familiar and well loved and Wu Fei could not seem to lose the habit of addressing Heero that way. Heero found a smile for his friend and then nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry, Duo."  
  
Duo nuzzled his ear and said into it, "I understand. I felt the same in your land, Heero." He gave Heero's ear a sharp tug with his teeth and then he was turning, tail lashing, and facing the endless plain of grass. "I must go now."  
  
"I want to go as well," Heero lamented as he rubbed at his bitten ear. "I should be at your side."  
  
"You can't," Duo replied firmly. "That would complicate things, especially if they decided to use you as a hostage against me. I'll return as soon as I can."  
  
"If you don't, I will come after you," Heero promised.  
  
Duo smiled. "I know," he said lovingly and then he was disappearing into the grass at an easy lope.  
  
"We need to get food," Wu Fei said, trying to distract Heero. Heero tried to keep his eyes on Duo, but the were was one with the grass already, invisible.  
  
"All right," Heero sighed and turned to the others. "I imagine that there are beasts here that are very dangerous. We have to be careful and stay hidden. Once we have some skins, we can make a container for water and some cover for our hut, so the larger the animal, the better.  
  
"Then we should hunt together," Trowa decided. "Bring down a deer... or what passes for a deer in these lands."  
  
Heero's mind refused to leave Duo even as he joined the others in the hunt. He knew that he wouldn't rest easy until his mate was by his side once more.  
  
+  
  
Duo knew the lands of his people, and knew where they would be in what season, but things had changed. He found the prides in disarray and not in their tribal lands. Prides had joined and warriors were separated from their clans. Women and children huddled, uncertainly, alone. Duo heard their worried whispers and knew that they were without kings. Zechs had killed them or taken them as his own, destroying the order of the Savannah. Everyone talked of war and none seemed concerned for a young were lion passing through their territories.  
  
Duo found the Sun Clan at the center of the chaos, near the border, far from where they should have been. Their numbers had swelled, but they were mostly adults with only a few cubs, cubs that weren't white or bore any markings that Duo was familiar with. His scruff of mane rose as his skin prickled. Stolen or adopted, he surmised, the sun tattoos all fresh on their skin.  
  
Duo found his mother first, sunning herself like an imperial queen among the other females atop a flat rock. She was never one to show too much affection and her eyes were wise as she watched Duo approach. Her lack of surprise told Duo many things and he wasn't a fool enough to not sense that the wind had shifted.  
  
"You're his queen," Duo said when he was close enough.  
  
"And you are his son," she replied with a smile and a fierce light in her golden eyes. "See how I've cared for you, even when you ran away?"  
  
"Ran?" Duo bristled, but with anger now. "Zechs sent me away."  
  
"King Zechs," she corrected, but then her tone was almost purring. "That's the way of it and you were of that age, the age where males are sent into the Savannah. I knew that you would live."  
  
The other females were uncertain about what to do. Duo saw one slink away and he knew that she had gone to inform Zechs of his arrival.  
  
His mother wrinkled her nose. "You smell odd." Her eyebrow arched and she smirked "What clan did you find a mate in, or did you start your own?"Her eyes peered at his tattoo, puzzled, "Will you introduce me to your mates? Have you fathered cubs? Zechs will be pleased."  
  
"He isn't my father," Duo growled. "And I haven't been with any females."  
  
Her expression was shocked and then disgusted as she hissed in warning, "You had best forget such nonsense. The sun has made you strange, my son. Perhaps you should go down into the caves and see your father?"  
  
"You're not my mother either," Duo muttered under his breath and felt a sharp pang of anguish as he turned and went down into the earth, down a short tunnel that opened out into a cavern with a low ceiling and more passageways beyond it. His mother had made her decision, as Solo had made his, to side with Zechs and use him.  
  
Zechs was lounging on a shelf of rock in a patch of sunlight streaming through a hole in the roof of the cave. A wildebeast thigh bone was half eaten and carelessly tossed aside and untanned hides were his only cushion against the rock. He still managed to look like a clan king despite the spareness of his surroundings and, as Duo neared him, he was even larger than he remembered. It sent a chill through him, recalling the terrifying flight from the male were lion's claws.  
  
As white as snow, huge mane streaming back and over broad shoulders, pale skin hardly broke up the utter lack of color in his fur. Ice blue eyes were narrowed at Duo, intelligent and piercing, judging Duo long before he came to stand at the foot of the shelf. Having Zechs look down at him, even though he had only a foot of height advantage where he lay, made Duo want to crouch defensively.  
  
"You have returned," Zechs said in a voice that suddenly reminded Duo of some of the lords in Heero's Keep; cultured and haughty. "When Une returned empty handed, I cursed her, yet she seemed very sure of you. Where is your were wolf prince that she spoke of? She said that you were in rut over him." Duo said nothing.  
  
Zech's nostrils flared delicately and then he looked disgusted as he caught a telltale scent. "You mounted the beast? That is too bad. I could have used him to keep the forest cities off my tail until I'm ready to strike. Is the body still in one piece? I can at least send it back to his people and use it as a tool off intimidation."  
  
Duo was both embarrassed and confused, not understanding Zechs.   
  
Zech's looked even more disgusted. "You allowed him to mount you?" His tail lashed in agitation.  
  
"Was he good?" Solo came swaggering out from behind a rock. He had grown as well, but not nearly as large as Zechs. A black mane, he would have looked sinister if it wasn't for his cocky smile. "You'll have to tell me. Is it true, that when they get over excited their-"  
  
"Enough!" Zechs growled and Solo looked briefly frightened. "We are not here to speak of Duo's perverted lapse of good judgement. Go out onto the plain. Find the prince and bring him to me."  
  
Solo regained his cocky smile. "Maybe I'll show him what happens when a were lion mounts a werewolf. He might survive it."  
  
"Alive and unharmed," Zechs retorted wearily, as if he were far too used to dealing with Solo's poor sense of humor.  
  
"No," Duo growled. "Leave him alone or I'll_"  
  
Zechs was suddenly pouncing on him between one blink and the next, bearing Duo down onto the cool rock with his much larger size. His fangs and his meaty breath were in Duo's face as he very precisely said, "You, 'my son', are not in a position to give ultimatums. You will do everything that I order or die. " He delicately licked the inside of Duo's ear. "You haven't experienced a male were lion. Your youth made you desperate, I'm certain, and you were drawn to an available mate. I will show you your true desire."  
  
Zechs clamped jaws onto the back of Duo's throat and his claws grabbed Duo's middle. Duo was helpless in that strong grip, helpless against the great body positioning itself above him. Duo's skin and thick fur repelled bites and the slash of claws, and bent with supple ease to reveal his entrance. Heero would have died, cut to bloody ribbons, or broken in those arms, but Duo felt submissive, hating himself, but needing what his instinct demanded. His tail lifted against his will as Zech's pelvis thumped and a hard, dripping erection grazed his entrance. Heero, it was Heero Duo wanted with all his heart, but Zechs knew all the triggers and used them ruthlessly.  
  
Zechs came all along Duo's backside without entering, a low moan reverberating throughout the cave. He sounded it several more times, a triumphant call that let everyone know that the king had mated.  
  
Zechs let Duo go then, a satisfied smile on his face. He had made his point, proven to Duo that he was dominant and King, without going so far as to brutalize him. It was a warning, Duo knew, a threat that had him curling up and shaking, eyes wide.  
  
Zechs told him, "You will stand before the other clans as proof that I can father healthy sons. In return, I will let you live as I allow Solo to live, in my shadow and sharing in the spoils and kills that are mine by right. Together we will take the tribes to war and crush the forest cities and make them ours. We will have what is theirs. We will have cool forests and walled homes. We will have the traders come to us and we will finally have the respect of the other weres that has been denied us."  
  
"If you kill, Heero," Duo said, his voice trembling, but his fear for the were wolf forcing him to try and protect him, "I won't care if I die. I'll welcome it." Zechs had bent to clean himself, tongue rasping. He looked at Duo with a frown.  
  
"I believe you would. I should have known that a runt from the plains was cast out for good reason. Your foster mother took you in out of some misplaced maternal feelings, and I didn't slay you when I took the clan to keep her good will and to lie when I required it. Well, she sees now, I suppose, the error of her ways, a were lion who prefers were wolves to mount him as if he were a female. Can you imagine her disgrace?"  
  
Duo ducked his head, his heart hurting, but then he repeated his threat. "I will die if Heero dies."  
  
"Perhaps I will allow you your plaything," Zechs conceded, "But he may wish death rather than be the convenience of a were lion prince. His position here will be less that my haunch of wildebeast." He caught it in his claws and crunched bone with his strong jaws.  
  
Duo turned and fled the chamber, but Zech's voice followed him. "Don't attempt to leave. My weres will be watching you."


	15. Hunt

Heero sniffed the air. The hairs between his shoulders twitched. It was his job to find water. They'd made a sizable kill, an odd animal with twisted horns, and Quatre was attempting to cook it, under cover of the den and darkness, while Trowa tended the four inch slash he'd taken along one hip. The beast had not gone down without a fight. Wu Fei was their guard and Heero didn't doubt his ability to keep them safe. It was his own skin that he was worried about.   
  
Heero could hear the calls of killers in the darkness, the deep call of were lions and the snarls and roars of fierce creatures he didn't recognize. Death could come out of the darkness in any direction, especially as he neared the scent of water.   
  
Heero twitched again and looked around him carefully, ears straining for the slightest sound over the swish of the grass in the breeze. Aside from the twinkle of stars, darkness reigned. Instinct told him that there was something there, though, something watching him and making the air scent with anticipation.   
  
Heero bolted, but it was a second too late. A very large body landed on top of him and a deep voice chuckled in his ear as he was easily pinned to the earth. "You are a handsome thing," the voice said and a familiar rumbling purr made the air vibrate as a large tongue licked along Heero's flattened ear. A were lion, Heero realized, and felt himself tremble as he saw the two plate sized paws, armed with razor sharp claws, on each side of him. He turned his head and looked into the shadowy, fanged grin, of a stranger.   
  
"My little brother lifts his tail for you," the were lion said as a hand felt crudely underneath Heero and found the sensitive flesh between his legs. "Ah, so you are like us after all, at least in this respect." Again the tongue licked his ear and Heero couldn't help a growl, his hackles rising. "Duo isn't so perverted after all."   
  
Heero snarled. "If you've hurt him-!"   
  
"My own brother?" Solo chuckled nastily. "You should shut your mouth, dog, before I take off your head to stop your stupid tongue. He's King Zech's now. He'll already have lifted his tail for him and joined his Clan again. Zechs can be very... persuasive." He said the last in a nasty, suggestive tone.   
  
"Duo is my mate!" Heero snarled and tried a desperate buck to get free of the were lion. It was a useless move.   
  
The fanged mouth grinned. "Really? I suppose he would have to be. Do you know what would happen if Duo mated you?"   
  
Heero was dominant. It wasn't something that he had really considered, but he was certain that Duo wouldn't hurt him, no matter what they did together. He was ready to close his ears to this were lion, knowing that he was only being taunted, but he wasn't prepared for the large jaws closing on his neck and the clawed hands jerking him into a mating position. The were lion was impossibly large and powerful, fangs and claws meant for ripping and tearing flesh. His muscles were meant for bringing down large prey and Heero remembered Duo's easy grace, his impossible leaps, and his ability to bring down even a large prey with ease.   
  
"Should I continue, or are you smart enough to see?" the were lion growled.   
  
Heero panted. "Why..."   
  
"To show you that you are too different," Solo told him. "To show you that you are a puppy in the jaws of a beast that can crush you without realizing it. Were lions mate with claw and tooth and instinct, not the cultured niceties of ritual and civilization. Duo will kill you, eventually, when he forgets that a were wolf is fragile and no match for one of our kind. He has a future with Zechs, a place in the new empire. He will be a prince among the clans. His concern for you will only get him killed."   
  
The large body flipped Heero easily and pinned him while Solo tied him with rope. He found himself looking up at a young, but almost full sized were lion. Heero's tail tucked between his legs without his conscious thought and Heero's ears went back in fear. Une had been an impressive creature, but this beast, with its full mane, seemed even larger and more capable of killing.   
  
"I have been ordered to bring you alive," Solo told him, jaws inches from Heero's face, "but I warn you to reject Duo when you see him next. Give him nothing to turn him from the path he must walk. What's between you will never work A were lion and a dog can't mate."   
  
Heero snarled, "I am a were wolf!"   
  
"There's a difference?" Solo chuckled.   
  
Heero showed his teeth and met Solo's eyes defiantly. "You will find out that there is."   
  
"You will not bring Duo to his death," Solo warned him, "but you will bring about your own if you don't do as you are told."   
  
There was a roar of anger and another were lion came from the darkness. Duo was a whirlwind as he savaged Solo, short mane bristled and purple eyes wild with desperation. He didn't stay within Solo's reach but missed a powerful swipe of claws and sprang back, teeth barred and ready to protect Heero.   
  
"You're being stupid," Solo warned him. "I don't know how you escaped Zechs and his males, but I'm sure they are hot on your trail. You're going to die for this dog. Come to your senses!"   
  
"I have," Duo told him as he planted himself firmly in front of Heero. "I've decided to be where I am loved and where I am free."   
  
"You're the mad were," Solo hissed. "I know where your friends den. I will bring the others and they will separate you from your dog prince."   
  
Solo was gone between one flicker of shadow and the next. Breathing hard, Duo crouched and spat, "He was always the coward."   
  
Duo untied Heero and licked his face, nuzzling him and lying very close. "I am a creature of the Savannah, not the forests, but this can't be my home, not while Zechs rules."   
  
Heero kissed him deeply and then rose, ignoring cuts and bruises and a leg that had folded awkwardly when Solo had pounced onto him. "Your home is with me, Duo, as mine is with you." And then the wind shifted and he caught the musky scent of a males's release on Duo.   
  
Heero wasn't sure what happened, except that he was suddenly on Duo, eyes blazing, hands and nose searching, trying to memorize and identify that trespassing odor that marked his mate as he prepared to erase it in the only way that he knew how. The clawed hand slamming into his face brought him back to his senses.   
  
Heero had been thrown down and Duo was following, face in his and seething. "Yes, he marked me, but that was all!" Duo snarled. "Shall I re-mark you because Solo's scent is on your back?"   
  
Heero's head was reeling. He touched his cheek, came away with blood and the sting of scratches, and then took a steadying breath as he regained control. His nose was still filled with 'enemy', but he backed away and hung his head, blood throbbing in his veins with anger. "I'm going to kill him, " he promised, "for touching you."   
  
Duo showed his fangs, half humor, half despair, "We'd die together, because I want to kill him too and I know that neither of us are strong enough. I was lucky that some of the females were eager to try and please a prince, and did as I told them, or I wouldn't have gotten away. Zechs is... very strong and he is undeniably their king."   
  
"We have to get back," Heero said as he shook his head to clear it. "We have to leave here."   
  
"Too late for that," Une's voice purred as her stripes suddenly separated from the shadows. "This was so much easier than I expected." Her tail lashed as she approached.   
  
"Not so easy," Wu Fei said. "I came to see why it was taking My Prince so long when water was such a short distance away."   
  
Une laughed. "Will you fight me, dragon?"   
  
Wu Fei's crest rose and rattled. He drew his blades. Without looking at Heero, he told him, "Go, My Prince. I will hold her here until I defeat her or at least cause her difficulty before I die."   
  
"No," Duo replied.   
  
"No," Heero agreed. "We will fight her together, my dragon."   
  
Wu Fei looked annoyed, but then he snorted, amused. "Now you choose to act like a prince."   
  
Une flickered her tail and her ears went back. "There is only one were that I am required to bring back. Leave him to me and you may live."   
  
Wu Fei sneared. "Are you afraid Lady were?"   
  
"I think that she is shy of getting her face scratched," Duo growled.   
  
"What do you hope to gain?" Une wondered angrily. "You will die before you ever leave the plains."   
  
"I won't serve someone like Zechs," Duo shot back. "I won't help destroy our way of life. I won't help attack and conquer the weres around us. The clans belong on the Savannah."   
  
"Are we invited to this party?" Trowa asked as he padded out of the darkness with Quatre at his side. "We wondered what was keeping you."   
  
Quatre's ruff was bristled, his long ears erect and forward. "You are outnumbered. I suggest that you leave."   
  
Une's tail lashed again. "It's true that I don't relish getting marked, but are you seriously suggesting that even your number is a match for me?"   
  
Wu Fei began to advance. "We will see."   
  
Une leapt without warning. Wu Fei ducked under claws and brought his weapons up, slashing at her underbelly. She twisted aside just in time, but Duo was leaping as well. He latched onto her head with all of his claws and sank jaws into her neck. Her skin was loose, though, and her fur thick. She tossed Duo aside as if he were a kitten and he landed hard. Heero was there to protect him, before she could press her advantage, and Trowa attacked her from the side, while Wu Fei regrouped and came at her from behind.   
  
"Die mountain dog!" Une shrieked as her razor sharp claws raked Trowa and sent him flying in a splatter of blood.   
  
"Love!"Quatre shouted in horror and then he was furious. He leapt onto Une's back and clamped jaws on her spine. His surprise move was more then enough to throw Une off balance and send her to the ground. She began to twist around to reach him, though, and he was seconds from meeting a very messy end.   
  
Heero was on her instantly, ignoring fangs and claws to save his friend. He felt his skin raked, and felt her hot breath as she opened her mouth to snap him in two, but Heero found her soft juggler and clamped down on it with his jaws. Holding her, Wu Fei was able to finished her with his knives, stabbing down into her heart between were wolf and were fox.   
  
They all lay still, then, panting, as Une died, terrified to let go and too terrified to believe in that death. A tongue licked Heero's face and a cheek rubbed against his own. "Let go, Heero," Duo urged. "It's over."   
  
Heero's vision cleared and he rolled his eyes to see his mate. Slowly, his jaws aching from the pressure he had exerted, he let Une go, her blood hot on his tongue. He spat it out and felt ill. Duo tugged at him and made him step away. Quatre was already leaping off and seeing to Trowa, who was sitting up and hissing at the claw wounds marring his skin.   
  
"We won, but now we have wounded," Wu Fei said in trepidation. "We need to leave the Savannah before others come."   
  
Duo looked pained, but he was nodding. "They will come quickly."   
  
"I can travel," Trowa grumbled as he slowly rose to his feet.   
  
Heero grimaced as he rose too, feeling the stabbing pain of wounds. He wasn't so certain about his own ability to travel. Wounded and facing a climb over mountain heights yet again, he wondered if he would live to see the other side. He said, making a sudden decision, "We're not going home. Quatre, will we be welcome in your land?"   
  
"As friends of mine? Of course!" Quatre exclaimed, dancing in place with nervous excitement and his tail bristling. "It will be so much easier and a much shorter journey."   
  
"It may be what they least expect as well," Wu Fei said thoughtfully.   
  
"They wouldn't dare attack my people," Quatre said with confidence. "The desert tribes are strong and cunning."   
  
Duo made a face. "My people have a dislike for endless sand and rock."   
  
Quatre looked reproving. "It's so much more than that, Duo. My tribe lives near a broad river. There is green, fish, deer, goats, and palms aplenty for shade. Perhaps we don't have grasslands, but it has comforts all the same."   
  
Trowa was frowning. "There is a desert between us and that river," he pointed out.   
  
Quatre grinned and nuzzled him. "I know the way through it. Don't be frightened."   
  
Duo sighed, but then looked resigned. "I will go to your home, Quatre. If everyone else is in agreement, we should leave now."   
  
Wu Fei looked pleased, but Heero supposed sun baked rocks and sand would appeal to the were dragon. As he and Duo wrapped his wounds with what scraps they had, he said, "I don't require that anyone follow Duo and I. You can return home."   
  
Wu Fei's crest rattled in anger. "You insult me and our friendship by suggesting such a thing."   
  
"Maybe I'm tired of cold and mountains," Trowa said. "I think I would like to warm myself in new lands. Besides, I have an interest in sleek, tan were foxes with big ears."   
  
Quatre laughed and his earrings tinkled together. He let Trowa lean on him as he took the lead.   
  
Wu Fei and Duo helped Heero, even though he tried to shrug them off and walk on his own. Duo's strength was more than enough for the task, though, and speed was important. He subsided and allow the help, calming his male pride in favor of survival.   
  
Behind them carrion birds began to settle on the body of the fallen were tigress.


	16. Homeland

It wasn't easy traveling the desert. The heat and the ever blowing sand made landmarks impossible. Quatre seemed to have an ability to scent his home, though. A questing nose was always in the air and a smile was ever present on his face as he took the lead, his tail ring glinting in the sun. Trowa and Heero were at their center, limping and wounded, yet determined to keep a fast pace for their lives sake. Duo and Wu Fei helped them, but there was only so much they could do in a wasteland of sand.   
  
Duo's ears were down a great deal of the time. "I hate sand," he mumbled more than once. His short mane was full of it and he hated having his braid drag through it. He had annoyed everyone the first few miles, by continuously trying to dislodge sand from between the toes of his large paws.   
  
"Too hot," Wu Fei declared near mid day and simply stopped, crest down and eyes hooded.   
  
There wasn't an argument. They could pant and get rid of their heat, but Wu Fei didn't have that luxury. He buried himself in the sand on the lee of a sand dune and only his crest was visible. The others were left to bake without any shade. They sat in misery, until the sun began to slant down towards evening. Only then would Wu Fei emerge and travel again.   
  
"He's going to do the same thing when night falls and it grows cold," Quatre warned. "We have to keep moving."   
  
"We can keep him warm," Heero replied. "I'm not sure if his pride will suffer it, though."   
  
Wu Fei glared. "Pride has no place where necessity reigns."   
  
Trowa snorted. "Meaning, you'll do what it takes, Dragon?"   
  
Wu Fei nodded.   
  
"Good," Quatre said in relief. "There is water after another day of travel, and my people beyond that."   
  
Trowa suddenly scented and everyone looked at him, puzzled. He grinned like a true wolf. "It's only the prospect of seeing so many were foxes, with tail rings, earrings, and tattoos."   
  
Quatre bristled. "My people are beautiful, but remember," he warned. "I am your mate."   
  
Trowa grinned and licked one of Quatre's long ears. "No other," he promised. Quatre made a small sound of pleasure and smiled as Trowa continued to lick. Their scents grew heavy on the air. Quatre nuzzled Trowa and his tail flicked and twitched upwards as if of it's own accord. Trowa suddenly shivered all over and began to take hold of Quatre by his ruff. He started and yelped when a reptilian fist connected sharply with his nose. It wasn't hard, but it was enough to get his full attention.   
  
Wu Fei glared. "Don't any of you practice self control?"   
  
Trowa glared back, but he was backing away from Quatre, who was looking disappointed, his ears drooping. "You're young too," Trowa pointed out. "Your self control comes only from being alone."   
  
Wu Fei looked angry, but then uncertain when Quatre said thoughtfully, "There are were dragons among my people. They're sand colored, have dark stripes, and they're smaller than you are."   
  
"Sand lizards," Wu Fei replied derisively. "They are not were dragons."   
  
"I think they would argue that," Quatre warned. "They offend very easily."   
  
Heero was battling the scent of sex in the air and he could see Duo looking just as uncomfortable. "Enough!" he growled. "We need to walk, not sit and talk about mating."   
  
"You're right," Quatre agreed and began to lead them again.   
  
"I wish we had time," Duo sighed under his breath.   
  
Heero nuzzled Duo and sighed as well. "So do I, love. We will have time, once we reach Quatre's people."   
  
Duo shook sand out of his toes with a grimace. "He promised no sand."   
  
"Some sand," Quatre amended, his long ears catching their conversation. "More rock, though, and riverbank."   
  
"A perfect place for sand lizards," Wu Fei grumbled and Heero gave him a surprised look.   
  
"Have you ever seen one?" he asked.   
  
"No," Wu Fei admitted. "But my people do not associate with them. They are primitive, uncultured, undisciplined."   
  
"Fun and carefree?" Trowa wondered with a snort of amusement, "instead of sour faced and arrogant?"   
  
"I've heard that they have no honor," Wu Fei replied as if that were enough to turn every mind against them.   
  
Trowa blinked. "I suppose we'll know what they're actually like once we see one."   
  
"I think you will be surprised," Quatre interjected, but didn't elaborate. 

+  
  
The desert was harsh, but, true to Quatre's word, he knew where water was to be found and the easier paths through it. At night they walked as close as possible to Wu Fei, warming him, but during the day, after a certain time, he was forced to burrow and escape the intense heat.   
  
Trowa snorted.   
  
"What's wrong?" Quatre asked anxiously, looking back over his waving tail.   
  
"If you continue to do that, I'm won't be able to control myself much longer," Trowa warned him. "I don't think that would make a good first impression on your people."   
  
Quatre looked about them. "Do you sense something?"   
  
"I have eyes," Trowa replied with a chuckle. "They are forgetting to hide their large ears."   
  
Heero looked ahead, squinting, and saw several pairs of large ears disappear behind a dune.   
  
"A hunting party, I think," Quatre surmised excitedly. "No one else comes out into the desert so far." He called out to them and the ears cautiously reappeared first, then, even more cautiously, were foxes revealed themselves at the top of the dune.   
  
They made Quatre seemed conservative in his appearance. There were four of them and they were all covered in golden jewelry that tinkled together and glinted from every point. One had six tail rings, intricately carved with symbols, while another fancied dangling earrings in abundance. All of them wore sheer cloths at waist and neck, but it was more for ornamentation than any modesty.   
  
"They have so many tattoos," Duo marveled and Heero remembered what tattoos meant to his people.   
  
"Just for beauty," Quatre told him with a smile. "We like making art out of our bodies."   
  
"You have a were lion, wolves, and a dragon, Quatre!" one of the were foxes called nervously. "What does this mean?"   
  
"It means that we have new friends!" Quatre called back.   
  
His word seemed to be enough. The were foxes came running up to him, tails waving, ears flicking excitedly, and mouths running as they demanded a full accounting of where he had been all at once. They were never still, each one of them a blur of motion, with Quatre dancing in place at their center as he tried to greet them.   
  
"Enough!" Wu Fei hissed.   
  
Everyone froze. Quatre laughed lightly. "It's all right," he assured his friends. "He doesn't approve of excitable were foxes. We'll speak when we reach our tents. Is father well? My sisters?"   
  
"Well enough," one of them answered, "Except that they have all been very worried about you."   
  
Quatre frowned then. "Father's biggest concern has been finding dowries for all of my many sisters."   
  
A were fox with pale ears shook his head. "You're wrong. He's missed you, Quatre."   
  
"Even after my last letter?" Quatre wondered skeptically.   
  
The were foxes all looked at Trowa. "He'll speak to you about that, I'm sure, Quatre," one said diplomatically.   
  
"I'm very sure of that," Quatre growled.   
  
"Is there trouble?" Duo asked.   
  
All of the were foxes crouched with ears flat and eyes wide.   
  
"It's all right," Duo assured them. "I don't eat were fox."   
  
They didn't look reassured. Duo was small for a were lion, but they were even smaller.   
  
"My father didn't approve of my journey," Quatre explained, "or my choice of mate. Being the only male heir of my family, in a sea of sisters, made his disappointment that much keener. That's my worry, though. You don't have to concern yourself with my family's squabbles. It's the Chief that will greet you and give you hospitality, not my father."   
  
The sun was low in the sky, but Heero was eager to get out of it's heat. "Can we continue, then?"he almost begged, though he wouldn't admit how exhausted he was.   
  
"Of course," Quatre replied contritely and led the way over the dune.   
  
Stretched out along a wide, flowing river, bordered by reeds, trees, and crops, was a sea of colorful tents and more permanent buildings. Were foxes moved about it, glinting in the sun with gold and adorned with fluttering scarves that made them look almost like butterflies from that distance.   
  
"Home, or one of them," Quatre announced with a wide smile. "My people are nomadic. Once the crops are in, we move away from the seasonal floods, and then return at planting time."   
  
Duo suddenly took the lead, paws eager to find a place where there was no more sand to irritate them. The others followed, Heero at his side.   
  
Heero observed, "They won't be able to stop the were lions. Look at them... small and lightly armed. They don't have any defenses either."   
  
Wu Fei surprisingly said, "They have a reputation as great fighters, my Prince. Don't be deceived by appearances."   
  
"If my people were weak," Quatre said proudly, "Then this would be were lion lands already. We are very fierce fighters, Heero. They won't come to our home without a costly battle."   
  
Heero hoped that the cost wouldn't be paid in were fox lives.   
  
The met the Chief in a colorful tent filled with carpets and pillows for sitting. Those assembled around the Chief, were mostly female were foxes, wearing beaded scarves and very intricate earrings. The few males looked to be guards, ranged behind where the Chief was standing.   
  
The Chief of the desert were foxes was an old creature, grayed and missing part of one ear. He wore a knife on a belt around his waist, but didn't bother with scarves or jewelry of any kind. A grizzled veteran, Heero thought as he approached and bowed low.   
  
"Yaine," Quatre introduced him, bowing low himself, "Chief of my tribe. This is prince Heero of the forest were wolves."   
  
"I'm sure there is a story to tell," Yaine snorted and rubbed at his bad ear as if it pained him. "You are marked by claws and one of our enemy walks among you." He nodded to Duo."I will greet him as a guest for now, though, since judging one creature for the misdeeds of others is against the teachings of our wise ones."   
  
Duo bowed, but he was tense, his shoulders twitching nervously.   
  
"Your father has been missing you, young Quatre," The Chief continued. "Your absence brought sorrow to many." He smiled, though, and said, "but I understand wanderlust. I had a good dose of it myself when I was younger, much to my father's dismay." He looked over Trowa, fascinated by his dark bands of color. "I can see why you were so enamored of this one. He is... very striking."   
  
Quatre grinned. "He is not only handsome," he chuckled. "But brave and honorable as well."   
  
"I hope that your father sees and honors those qualities, then," the Chief replied. His eyes rested on Wu Fei. "We have your close kin, here, were dragon. They will be pleased to have news of their cousins in the north."   
  
Wu Fei looked disdainful, but inclined his head marginally.   
  
"We will continue pleasantries later, I think," the Chief said as if everything had been formality and required up until then. "Now I must know if you are bringing war to our tribe, Quatre. You are wounded, marked, and weary. You are without your guards and supplies. Everything about you and your companions speaks to me of a hurried flight across the desert. Who chases you, Quatre?"   
  
"The king of the Savannah were lions, Zechs," Quatre replied. "With me is his adopted son, Prince Duo. Zechs wishes his return and wants our deaths."   
  
The were fox raised an eyebrow. "Is Prince Duo your captive, then?"   
  
"No, he's my mate," Heero replied.   
  
Both the were fox's eyebrows rose now in shock. "Is such a thing possible?"   
  
Heero looked embarrassed, but answered readily enough, "Yes, it is. Duo has decided to be with me, not with his kind on the Savannah. He doesn't want to join Zech's war."   
  
"Commendable," the Chief said and then looked thoughtful. He turned to one of the females. "Yahla, gather the guard and put them on alert. Lila?" He turned to another. "Make the tribe ready for travel. This is not a defensible place."   
  
"He may not be moving his army here," Wu Fei protested.   
  
"We have seen scouts," the Chief replied. "We have been waiting for Zechs to attack us. It is better to leave the field workers behind and take the most vulnerable to safety in the hills as a precaution. The prince's defection may be the impedus Zechs needed to move his forces in our direction. I will send guards into the desert to give us early warning."   
  
"Better than those who we met there earlier, I hope?" Wu Fei grumbled.   
  
The Chief narrowed eyes at Wu Fei. "I have heard from your desert kin how arrogant northern were dragons are. I see the proof of it before me. Don't underestimate the skill and bravery of my tribe."   
  
Wu Fei bowed, automatic apology, but an apology wasn't in his eyes. Heero knew from long experience that the were dragon didn't give compliments or respect easily.   
  
"You are my honored guests," the Chief told them. "Our homes are your homes. Quatre?"He gave the were fox a level look. "I entrust them to your keeping, for good or ill."   
  
Quatre bowed very low, accepting the responsibility.   
  
Everyone murmured their thanks and then they were bowing out of the tent. Quatre looked troubled, as if a great weight had been placed on his shoulders.   
  
"What is it?" Trowa wondered in concern.   
  
"I have been given orders to entertain you and to make certain that all of your needs are fulfilled," Quatre replied.   
  
"And you have been given the responsibility to end our lives if we prove to be enemies?" Wu Fei guessed sourly.   
  
Quatre nodded.   
  
"No danger of that," Heero growled, "so stop worrying."   
  
Duo was frowning though. Heero eyed him and then gave him a nudge.   
  
Duo whipped his tail in agitation and said, "If my people kill enough were foxes, how long will it be before they wonder why I am allowed to be among them?"   
  
"We are not like that," Quatre assured him as he led them to a guest tent. "We will judge you on your deeds, not those of others."   
  
A sand colored creature, with dark stripes, was in their path, talking to a female were fox. She had long, dark hair and a crest that was white and flicking upwards to catch the sunlight. Her dark eyes turned and caught sight of Wu Fei and his companions. She froze and Wu Fei looked her up and down with an arrogant tilt of his chin.   
  
"Desert were lizard," Wu Fei said.   
  
"Desert were dragon," she corrected with a snap, and then introduced herself proudly, "Sahri of Li Lon ."   
  
"Wu Fei of Chang," he retorted as if it were a challenge.   
  
They stood stiffly, staring at each other, and then the female was walking away and Wu Fei was continuing to the guest tent.   
  
"I think they're in love," Quatre snickered.   
  
Duo laughed and nuzzled Heero, who smirked and rubbed his face against Duo's. Wu Fei pretended not to notice, but the spines along his tail were quivering.


	17. Glitter

"How can it be?" a voice whispered.  
  
"It is," Quatre replied just as softly.  
  
"Still..."  
  
"Sometimes, love has claws," Trowa chuckled and was shushed.  
  
Heero was wrapped in Duo's warmth, Duo's head resting under his own as they lay curled on cushions in a corner of the guest tent. He couldn't help licking a rounded ear, even though he wasn't really ready to wake up yet. Duo emitted a rumbling purr for only a second and then was still again.  
  
"Who is dominant?" the strange voice wondered.  
  
There was a sound of a cuff and Quatre's angry growl, "Impertinent child! Being my cousin does not give you leave to be rude."  
  
"I'm only a year younger than you, ancient one," the stranger growled back.  
  
Heero lowered his ears, a clear warning that wasn't missed by Quatre.  
  
"You may leave now," Quatre told his cousin. "This is not a traveling circus. They are guests."  
  
"I'm not the only one who's curious," his cousin replied. "You won't be able to avoid everyone's questions."  
  
Cloth rustled as the were fox left and then Quatre sighed. "He's right."  
  
"We don't have anything to hide," Wu Fei's arrogant voice said. "Our intentions are honorable."  
  
Duo's scent under his nose, and his fur tickling his skin, were the only things that Heero wanted to face just then. He stubbornly refused to join the conversation.  
  
"Don't let your desires make you unprepared, my prince," Wu Fei's voice said, not at all fooled by Heero's faked sleep.  
  
Heero rolled one eye open and then closed it again stubbornly.  
  
"I don't think that he needs much preparation to answer the ridiculous questions of these desert weres," Trowa snorted. "Is he part dog that he is colored so? Was the were lion raised by were wolves? Is that why he mates with one, because he imagines that he is one? Does King Zechs make war on them because he doesn't want crosses between were wolves and were lions? Would their babies be were wolflions?"  
  
"Babies?" Quatre was shocked. "They believe that Duo is... female?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Trowa snickered, "Unless they believe that even male were lions can carry young?"  
  
There was a quiet moment and Heero imagined Quatre blushing.  
  
Duo's tail became an instrument of evil. It flicked around and lightly brushed Heero under his tail. It did this twice and Heero warmed with his own blush. He captured the tail and held it lightly. He could almost feel Duo smirking.  
  
Quatre had decided to avoid any more talk of males and babies. "The desert were dragons would welcome you if you allow them to, Wu Fei. They have a very large community here."  
  
"I don't have time for such things," Wu Fei hissed back. "We are close to war. I will need all of my energies to prepare the were foxes to repel King Zech's assault. That may only be days away."  
  
"Perhaps," Quatre agreed. "All ready my people are moving to safer ground, but we've always been ready for attacks. Some of the deeper tribes of the deserts can be fierce. We are used to fighting. Besides, the desert were dragons will fight beside us."  
  
There was a heavy silence and then Wu Fei asked. "Will they?"  
  
Quatre sighed. "Your fight with them is generations old, dragon. They are no longer the people that abandoned your clans to the enemy so long ago. They've become brave and honorable."  
  
Heero's ears flicked, surprised, and he felt Duo tense beneath him. A mystery solved. Wu Fei's prejudice was understandable now. Especially when he hissed, "Half my people died because of their cowardice. Our eggs were laid waste. It isn't a thing to forget."  
  
"Would their presence have mattered?" Quatre wondered. "Or would they have died too?"  
  
"That isn't the point," Wu Fei snapped back. "We were pushed back from our ancestral lands. It took us a long while to recover them again."  
  
"And why were you sent away, Wu Fei?" Quatre wanted to know.  
  
"Not sent," Wu Fei corrected disdainfully. "I chose exile."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because my people made treaties with our murderers for their safety." Wu Fei's passion was intense, his hatred for that act. "I couldn't face that."  
  
"Then it isn't just the desert dragons that are despised by you," Quatre guessed.  
  
"No," Wu Fei snapped back and then cloth rustled and the clash of crest spines was clearly audible as Wu Fei left.  
  
"You could have said something Heero," Quatre said disapprovingly.  
  
Heero slitted open his eyes. "Do you really believe that any words of mine will make any difference?"  
  
Quatre sighed and leaned against Trowa. Trowa was sitting and drawing a comb through his banded fur as if nothing more important were going on. His eyes were thoughtful, though. He snaked an arm out and briefly hugged Quatre as he said, "You can't make it better, mate. His is an old wound and it's deep."  
  
Were foxes came in with food then and Duo frightened them when he suddenly sprang from underneath Heero and descended on them excitedly, the desire to rest and be with his mate forgotten. One server dropped his platter and backpedaled with flailing paws. The food that fell was a very large haunch of raw meat. Duo latched onto it as if he were making a kill and then carried it eagerly to where Heero was just sitting up.  
  
"Q-Quatre?" the frightened server spluttered.  
  
"It's all right," Quatre soothed. "Just leave the food and go. It's not good to come between a were lion and his meal."  
  
Trowa snickered as the servers hurried to go, knowing that Quatre had neatly avoided another round of questioning.  
  
"It's fresh," Duo purred and then began to messily eat.  
  
Heero stepped back and away, watching Duo's sharp teeth and razor claws making short work of the haunch. Bone crunched loudly as Duo separated the haunch without any effort at all.  
  
Cooked meat and other delicacies were on the other platters. Heero joined the others in eating his own meal, his eyes watching his mate. How easily Duo could hurt him, he thought, and yet didn't. It made his love that much stronger.  
  
Belly distended and a grin on his lips, Duo finished, burped, and then slowly moved towards the tent flap as if he were already half asleep. "Warm rock," he murmured.  
  
"Duo, I don't think...." Heero began.  
  
"Let him go... and go with him," Quatre urged. "Let my people see the fierce were lion looking like an over stuffed lap kitten," he chuckled. "It will help them learn not to fear him."  
  
Duo growled irritably, but didn't have the energy to retort. Heero followed him out of the tent, into the warm sun, and onto a flat rock. Duo flopped onto his side, burped again, and then fell instantly asleep. Heero settled next to him with an indulgent sigh and spent the next few hours watching a parade of were foxes flit cautiously by to get a closer look at the sated were lion. Quatre had said that they weren't a circus, but, at that moment, Heero felt like one.  
  
"What are you doing?" Heero had taken his own nap and found Duo mysteriously gone when he had awakened. It unnerved him that an overfed were lion could move so quietly when he chose, but finding the scent of meat and Duo wasn't a problem. The were lion needed a bath, he thought, and then amended, as he caught his own scent, so did he. It was a wonder that Wu Fei didn't smell either of them, but then again, he was busy being uncomfortable.  
  
Heero crouched by his mate at the base of a rock. Duo had ears cocked, his long braid snaking over his back, and his tail twitching. He was looking upward, a small smile on his face.  
  
Heero cocked his own ears, curious, and caught Wu Fei's voice saying, "I need to know how competent your fighters are, female, not hear you bemoaning your exile here."  
  
"I was not 'bemoaning', " Sahri said. "I was explaining to you the harshness of this land and how well we have protected our fields from invaders. We enjoy our homes here and our alliance with the were foxes. We don't have any wish to return to our clans."  
  
"Neither do I," Wu Fei retorted, "but you talk a great deal, and yet tell me nothing that I wish to hear."  
  
There was a dueling sound of clashing spines, attesting to their mutual anger. "I am a warrior!" Sahri said. "I am very skilled, as are all my kin. The lion clans will pay dearly if they attempt to take our lands."  
  
"You will pay dearly if you are over confident," Wu Fei warned.  
  
"Who is over confident here?" she retorted. "You are here, without any of your kin, and in the company of misfits."  
  
"My Prince is not a misfit, he is the heir of his people!" Wu Fei hissed and Heero felt a warmth at the were dragon's obvious pride in him. "You would do well to respect that fact and the fact that I am his guard."  
  
"He is fortunate in that, if nothing else," Sahri replied, but then added, "Even the least of our people is formidable."  
  
It was a backhanded slight that wasn't well received. "You will gather your people so that we may plan. I need to speak with your best warriors."  
  
"If you don't know a great warrior when you speak to her, then perhaps you are not so great yourself?" she hissed and then her claws were scrambling on stone as she descended to leave. She paused, her longue tongue flicking out to taste the air, and then she hissed again and was gone.  
  
"Female," Wu Fei muttered and then they heard a sigh as he, perhaps, stretched out to sun himself  
  
Heero plucked at Duo's short mane and they both crept away.  
  
"Why were you listening to them?" Heero wanted to know.  
  
Duo looked embarrassed. "I went to... you know... after eating that much... anyway, they slithered by and I had to know what they were saying to each other."  
  
"Nothing that they won't tell us later," Heero admonished.  
  
"My mate is so proper," Duo snickered. He licked Heero's face with a meaty smelling tongue.  
  
"Bath," Heero said with a grimace. "We both need one."  
  
Duo shivered. "You know I don't like water and I'm still too full."  
  
"Pig," Heero teased. "If you want me by you, you need to get the stink off of you."  
  
"Didn't matter the other night," Duo purred and Heero was suddenly pinned with Duo stretching out on top of him. His ears were thoroughly cleaned while Duo's belly threatened to bow his spine.  
  
"Get off!" Heero snarled.  
  
Duo grunted in annoyance as Heero pushed at him, but he moved and Heero shook himself as he stood again. It made him think of Solo, having felt Duo's strength and weight, and he wondered what they would do when Duo became that large and powerful. He tried to imagine Duo with a full, cinnamon and brown mane, but it was hard. He tried to imagine taking possession of such a creature... and couldn't do that either.  
  
"You're thinking," Duo accused as he nuzzled Heero. He turned suddenly and his tail lifted up and over his back. His slim hips, and what lay between, were a tempting sight. When Duo looked back at Heero with a sensuous grin, it was suddenly very easy to imagine himself wanting Duo however he could manage it, no matter what size his lover was.  
  
"I'm a pervert," Heero sighed. He grabbed hold of Duo's hips and steadied him as his tongue licked out and teased his mate into opening for him.  
  
"Because of that?" Duo groaned in pleasure, "Or because you love a were lion... or a male were lion... or...?"  
  
Heero nuzzled Duo's sack and then reached past to lick at his erect member. The taste was wild and intoxicating; salty and all Duo. Duo's front half bowed down and that's when Heero took him, with a grasping of strong arms around Duo's middle and a long, languid entrance that left them both whimpering and needing each other badly. His mate, Heero thought, and all his.  
  
That's when it hit Heero, an all encompassing instinct that had him swelling inside of Duo until they were locked together. He began pumping rapidly, hips slapping against Duo as Duo protested and groaned in pleasure at the same time. It was gathering strength within Heero, a tidal wave of ... he wasn't sure what, but it was imperative and not to be denied. It had him panting, whining, and almost crying with a pressure that he had never felt before. He was going to explode, he felt, and he feared that the power of it would kill him. He could feel his heart hammering.  
  
The scent on the air thickened. Duo was gathering beneath him, wanting it to end, unsure of Heero's sudden intensity and the almost pain/pleasure that it was becoming. His balance shifted. He was going to lash out, try to push Heero off, but Heero couldn't let that happen. He was almost there.  
  
Heero grabbed the back of Duo's neck with his teeth and clamped down just as he thrust forward one last time and buried himself as deeply as he could manage. He exploded then and went blind, a cry bursting from between the grip of his teeth on Duo. It seemed endless as he filled Duo with his heat, with his seed, and with every ounce of his strength. In his mind he had called Duo his mate, but his body, newly matured, had taken that physical step that he was only supposed to take with females.  
  
He awoke sometime later with Duo curled up around him and a gentle, rasping tongue cleaning his face and ears. It was methodical and forgiving and Heero wondered how it could be after what he had done.  
  
"I hurt you," Heero whispered, full of guilt.  
  
"We mated," Duo breathed into his ear and then nuzzled him as he held Heero tight. "Before was just play. It felt wonderful... and rough... but I understand, Heero. Were lions... They are not gentle when it comes to mating. It is need and pain and quickly over. I was afraid... I didn't want it to hurt... and it didn't, not really."  
  
Heero was suddenly on Duo and holding him gently. He caressed and nuzzled his mate, whispering apologies even though he was forgiven and it would happen again. His body knew his mate now and it would be eager to claim him again and again. "I didn't give you a choice, I bit you."  
  
Duo frowned as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't like that, I won't lie, but I trusted you, love, and you didn't betray that trust."  
  
They lay together and whispered reassurances for a long while and then Duo stretched and chuckled. "Now I'm full and sore, love. Can we go sun again? It's too cool here in the shadows of the rocks."  
  
"Of course," Heero agreed. As he watched Duo move stiffly up the rocks, he realized that he loved every inch of his mate, and no matter how they changed as they grew older, that fact would not change.


	18. Patterns

The ones who did not fight, left carrying their things in a practiced manner that had Heero appreciating their skill and organization. In three days, they went from a sprawling, heavily populated city, to a collection of a few huts and empty fields. Those that were left, spent their time fortifying defenses and readying their weapons.   
  
Heero's tension rose with every day. Duo seemed unconcerned and relaxed, hunting with some of the younger were foxes and enjoying their awe. Trowa wandered, and was gone more often than not. Quatre seemed determined not to see his father, though that kept him mostly in the guest tent. Wu Fei partnered with Heero in practice sparring matches, that seemed more and more like actual battle as both of them wrestled with their inner doubts and anxieties.   
  
When Wu Fei didn't show for their usual midmorning practice, and his mate was proving that cat was definitely in his bloodline by still being asleep in their tent, Heero found himself angry for no other reason than that he now had nothing to relax his nerves. When he found his were dragon teacher unaccountably asleep on a warm rock, Heero found that intolerable. It seemed to him to be a sign that he was the only one still taking their danger seriously. Were foxes and Sand Dragons trained and prepared, but they all seemed as unconcerned as his sleeping friend, as if they didn't doubt that they would win. Heero had doubts, great doubts. He didn't want to call it fear.   
  
Solo and his crushing weight was still fresh in Heero's mind. The humiliating show of just how ineffectual he was against the full strength of a were lion, had marked him more than he ever wanted to admit. He couldn't see how tiny were foxes were going to overcome that strength and his fear that he would see mounds of Quatre's beautiful people dead before too long, was an anxiety he had to exorcize. Making himself a perimeter guard, he wore himself out scouting far and wide until the sun became too hot.   
  
Returning at last, exhausted, but feeling better, Heero was surprised to see an elder were fox sitting far from the huts as if the sun didn't bother him at all. Heero sniffed the air, found nothing out of the ordinary, and made his path cross the were fox's.   
  
The creature's face was wrinkled and his ruff was gray. Weighed down by intricate gold jewelry, he had tattoos running from both shoulders to the backs of his hands, and scars along his back that looked wide enough to have been made by a were lion.   
  
"Not wise to run about in the heat," the old were fox told him.   
  
"Then are you a fool for doing the same?" Heero shot back, annoyed.   
  
The were fox laughed and it sounded so much like Quatre, that Heero guessed who he must be before he was told. He was an important were fox and not to be insulted.   
  
"Forgive me," Heero apologized and made a small bow. "I didn't realize that you were the father of my friend.   
  
"He has told me about your temper," the old were replied. "He was not exaggerating. You may call me Adera. It's a familiar term... like grandfather. I don't stand on formalities and I've been told that you saved my son's life."   
  
Heero was taken aback by the blue eyed were fox and wasn't sure how to respond, but then he became suspicious and accused, "You came here, to speak to me?"   
  
The were fox cocked his head to one side, his ears flicking as if in annoyance. "You see what I am reduced to, begging my son's friends for word of him? He fears censure from me and refuses to come to any of my summons."   
  
"Is he right?" Heero wondered, bristling a little as he re- evaluated the old were fox as a possible threat to his friend.   
  
"I think that he may have learned strange ideas in a strange land," Adera replied, "and I only wish him to explain why he chose this path." He looked very uncomfortable. "This were wolf that he has ... made friends with."   
  
"Mated with," Heero corrected.   
  
"Which is not irreversible!" The old were fox snapped back, and then worried his lip for a moment until he contained his anger. "He respects you," he continued again. "He sees you with.... strange ways."   
  
"With a were lion as a mate," Heero clarified. "He was mated to Trowa before that."   
  
"Yet you are an example of where he has learned-," the were fox began, but Heero lost patience.   
  
"It isn't learned!" Heero barked and the were fox flinched. He didn't run or back up, despite his smaller size, and Heero had to respect him for his courage. "Love comes as it will," he continued, "Sometimes, it doesn't make sense or follow convention, but it isn't any less than a love that does. Quatre didn't learn to love Trowa. it just is, and you will gain nothing by trying to change that except your son's hate and his absence from your life. He will not give up Trowa, not even for your sake."   
  
Adera looked as if he could barely get a breath around his pain and fury and then he turned and stalked away.   
  
"The inlaws are always so difficult," Trowa said behind Heero unexpectedly.   
  
"You're amused?" Heero snapped back as he turned to face the banded were wolf.   
  
Trowa smiled, but the _expression was tight and lacking in true amusement. "When you have a field of yellow flowers, and a red one suddenly grows, people notice. Some people even try to pull it up rather than endure it."   
  
Trowa moved past him, adding firmly, "His dislike changes nothing... and never will."

+  
  
"Where did you go?" Wu Fei wondered irritably when Heero returned to their tent.   
  
Heero glared. "I know where you went," he replied as he checked Duo and found him curled up in a corner. A purple eye opened and then Duo yawned, showing his large canines briefly.   
  
Wu Fei said nothing for a moment and then, "It was a personal thing. Forgive me for not attending you earlier, my Prince."   
  
Heero felt at a loss as Wu Fei gave a small bow. The were dragon had been sleeping. It occurred to Heero that Wu Fei might have finally reached the end of his seemingly endless supply of strength. Even he needed time to rest and recover. Heero felt contrite. "No, I'm sorry. I forget that I am not your Prince any longer. You have been constant in your diligence. It was time that you... attended to personal things."   
  
Wu Fei looked embarrassed. "If you would like to exercise now?"   
  
"No," Heero told him. "Tomorrow is soon enough."   
  
Duo left his corner, flexed his claws, and then eyed Heero and Wu Fei. "Well, if you're not going to, I would like to."   
  
Heero was startled. Wu Fei raised an eyebrow in interest. "What would he have to teach a creature that's so deadly to begin with?" Heero wanted to know.   
  
Duo ran hands through his short mane and then checked his long braid. "Strength and claws aren't everything," he replied, "especially when there are larger and stronger enemies facing you."   
  
Wu Fei crossed arms over his chest and appraised Duo critically. "I won't show any quarter."   
  
"He won't," Heero agreed, wincing at the memory of his own, painful training sessions.   
  
"I wouldn't want you to," Duo replied, twitched his tail, and then headed for the tent flap. "Coming?"   
  
Wu Fei looked at Heero as if seeking permission. Heero shrugged. "My only fear is that the lazy cat will fall asleep on you."   
  
"Ha, ha," Duo growled irritably. "I am not a cat."   
  
Heero smiled softly. "No, you're not."   
  
Duo smiled back and then said impatiently to Wu Fei, "Well?"   
  
Wu Fei made a hissing noise and Heero decided that it was a laugh. "Let us go then."   
  
Duo nodded and proceeded Wu Fei outside. He bumped into Quatre.   
  
Quatre jumped back nervously, eyes wide and tail bristled. "Forgive me," he apologized and then, when he saw them walking towards the training ring, " Are you going to train, Heero? The scouts have seen nothing yet. You will wear yourself thin before we are ever confronted by an enemy."   
  
"They will wait until you grow complacent," Wu Fei told him. "They will wait until you believe that they are not coming and drop your guard."   
  
"I'm not a warrior," Quatre admitted as he watched Wu Fei and Duo take up positions on the training ground. "I bow to your wisdom... yet I suspect your wisdom when I see you ready to fight Duo."   
  
Wu Fei's spines rattled. "He is young and he has many weaknesses," Wu Fei replied.   
  
Duo frowned at that, but he didn't counter that assumption as he faced the slim were dragon.   
  
"First, I need to discover your level of skill," Wu Fei told him. "Once I find all of your weaknesses, I will proceed with eliminating them."   
  
Heero rubbed an old scar nervously. Wu Fei had never given him any quarter.   
  
They sparred hand to hand. Duo was quick and supple, and he refrained from using his claws. Wu Fei had him down, with a knee jammed into his back, before they had drawn four breaths. Duo looked surprised, and then wary, as Wu Fei released him and they began again.   
  
They fought long and hard. Heero settled, wincing every time that Wu Fei landed a blow. Duo only grunted and went back for more. Quatre settled beside Heero, wide eyed, and Heero was suddenly distracted by a thought.. Outside of huddling for warmth, it was the closest that he could remember being to the were fox.   
  
"Heero," Quatre whispered without taking his eyes from the fight "Why are you smelling me?"   
  
He was. His nose was near the end of Quatre's back. Heero felt the heat of embarrassment. "I was seeing...," he trailed off, finding it hard to explain.   
  
"Ah," Quatre said as he put his head on his arms, still watching the fight. "You were wondering if you were attracted to someone closer to your own kind? That's natural, I suppose. You simply want to know yourself better."   
  
Heero blushed harder. "Yes."   
  
"So?" Quatre did look back then, blue eyes amused.   
  
Heero shook his head and managed a nervous smile. "A little, but not like Duo."   
  
Quatre's tail tucked and it was his turn to look embarrassed. It was a clear sign that Quatre was not interested in him. "Trowa will kill you if he thinks..."   
  
Heero turned his attention back to the fighting. "Mountain wolves are very territorial," Heero agreed, "but I'm not going to challenge him."   
  
Quatre laid back his ears and then seemed to force them up again. "You could just say that Duo is the only mate for you."   
  
Heero found a grin. He was alpha and that meant that challenges were natural for him. Still, he didn't want another mate, or to come between Trowa and Quatre. His instincts in that regard were well in hand. Besides, he could imagine the damage a jealous were lion could make to anyone Heero dared notice beside him. "Duo is the only mate for me," Heero agreed and Quatre looked relieved.   
  
"Enough," Wu Fei finally said. They were both breathing hard. Duo was bleeding from his mouth, his purple eyes aglow with temper. "You need more sense," Wu Fei declared. "You need discipline. When time permits, I will give you exercises that will strengthen your left side and make your blows more concentrated."   
  
Duo surprised Heero by giving Wu Fei a small bow. Wu Fei returned it and Duo came over to Heero. He flopped down in the dirt and Heero asked anxiously, "Are you all right?"   
  
"My pride is wounded and my body is sore," Duo groaned. He pulled Heero close. "I need personal attention. Now."   
  
Heero smiled and kissed him. "I think I can give you that, love."   
  
Duo looked past Heero to Quatre, who still had his tail tucked. "You're so pink, Quatre. You should get out of the sun."   
  
Quatre mumbled something and slunk away. Duo gave Heero a quizzical look and Heero admitted, "We were talking about attractions. "   
  
Wu Fei was walking towards a rock, intent on sunning himself. Duo rose gingerly and gave Heero a serious look. "You're not wanting to...?"   
  
Heero growled and bit Duo's ear lightly. "No, fool. It seems that I am completely besotted by you, and you alone."   
  
"Good." Duo scratched the earth with his sharp claws, raking deeply. "I don't share."   
  
"You will never have to, I promise you," Heero told him and wrapped arms around Duo. "Should I prove it to you?"   
  
"I do think I need some proof," Duo told him, but then winced, "After I recover from my beating by your were dragon."


	19. Taboo

His lover was so beautiful, so volatile, and so gentle when he needed to be, Heero thought with awed amusement as he sat quietly, not wanting to disturb Duo at his play with the very young were foxes that had come down from hiding to visit their warrior fathers.   
  
Duo was supple muscle, sharp claws, and teeth. He chased down the fleeing were fox with ease, the child screaming with mock terror as his companions giggled on the sidelines. Duo scooped the child into his great paws and turned into a ball of long braid, tail, and fur as he made the 'killing bite' on the child in his grip. There was a nervous squeal from the child, but he emerged a moment later, unhurt and laughing with glee.   
  
Duo laughed as well, stretched, and began sauntering back to the others with the child bouncing excitedly behind him. Heero's eyes caught a movement past him, something in the tall, sunburnt grasses beyond the clearing. A bird, he thought fleetingly, and almost let his eyes flick away, only to return when his mind registered that something there wasn't quite the color of the grass.   
  
"Duo!" Heero shouted and bolted towards his lover. "The children! Take them away! We're being attacked!"   
  
Duo lifted his head, tail flicking as his nose tested the breeze. Then he was barking, "Run!" at the children and running, not with them, but at the all too familiar forms rushing out of hiding.   
  
Heero shouted, "No!" and increased his speed. He grabbed Duo by the ruff of the neck and jerked the were lion off his feet. He shifted stance, wrapped arms around his lover, and threw them both in the other direction.   
  
Duo landed on all fours, snarling, but seeing the sense of it, as he shook his head from the pain of Heero's bite and kept pace with Heero as they tried to outdistance the enemy and warn the camp.   
  
The were fox scouts were likely dead, Heero lamented mentally as he called his warning and saw were foxes scrambling for weapons. He thought of Duo's young playmates, and imagined them torn to shreds on were lion claws and teeth. The pain blossomed in his chest and he couldn't help thinking that all was lost. What could they do against such strength despite all of their preparation?   
  
Wu Fei appeared with the desert dragons, armed and running to the defenses. Quatre and his father, with Trowa behind him, had suddenly found all personal squabbles forgotten as survival became first and foremost in importance. The chief of the were foxes came racing out with a bow, a glitter with his jewelry and tattoos, calling his warriors to order.   
  
It was hard to think after that. The day had come. The time was now. Bows began thrumming as Heero and Duo stopped, exchanged looks that said everything, and then turned to join the fight themselves.   
  
Were lions were one with their nature. They still moved in their clan groups, maned males growling and angry to be working with half maned juniors who should, by all rights, have been expelled from their sight to join or create their own groups. Zechs could force them together, but he couldn't stamp out instinct and ages old custom. As they came, Heero saw fights blossoming, falling apart, only to begin somewhere else. If there was a head, a commander, Heero couldn't spot it. Zechs himself was absent. Despite such obvious advantages, though, there were many of the creatures, and they were moving steadily towards their line.   
  
"No females," Duo remarked as he raked his claws in the dirt.   
  
"That helps?" Heero wanted to know.   
  
"Yes," Duo affirmed. "Females have more staying power and a better ability to coordinate and work together. See how these males walk? How they keep drifting? They'll kill, but they'll never get their noses bloody. They're already looking for ways to get out of the fight."   
  
"Yes," Wu Fei said on Duo's other side. "Very observant. We may be able to turn them back by keeping up the fight as long as we are able."   
  
Heero cringed, imagining how many were foxes would die to accomplish that. He looked over the calm, and well armed were dragons. There were mostly males there. One he had expected to see was absent. "Sahri isn't fighting?"   
  
"She is with our eggs, in the breeding sands," Wu Fei said off handedly as if it bothered him that Heero had even asked after such a thing.   
  
Heero went wide eyed. "Our eggs?" he repeated, choking.   
  
Wu Fei shrugged. "That is my business, my Prince. Shall we fight?"   
  
Heero shook himself and then nodded curtly. He would get the story later. He nudged Duo in the side and Duo nudged back, and then they were rushing forward to join the fight.   
  
It wasn't a bloodbath, but some did die. The were foxes took many down with their bows, their strategy suddenly becoming clear, and their confidence in their abilities. Heero saw, first hand, just how quick and adept with weapons a were fox could be. They simply overwhelmed or out maneuvered their larger enemy. Their blades were sharp and long, giving the were foxes reach. Teeth and claws were useless when prey wouldn't come in close enough to feel them.   
  
The sand dragons were more forthright, but no less effective with Wu Fei leading them. They cut a swath that allowed the were foxes to get to the heart of the were lion's charge. That charge faltered, stopped, and turned into mindless milling as Duo and Heero struck from the sides with Quatre, Trowa, Quatre's father, and the other were foxes in tight formation. The Chief of the were foxes called a high war cry and came from behind, having circled around with bows. Trapped, the were lions panicked. Duo had been very right when he had guessed that they were reluctant warriors. Many of them fled.   
  
One did not flee. Solo continued to fight fiercely, cursing at the others to stand with him. It was him that Duo finally faced, crouched and knowing that even quick were foxes were no match against such a large were lion who was determined to win. Ears flat, Duo started forward, hoping only to wound his one time brother enough to allow the others to bring him down.   
  
"I don't want you to die," Duo told him over the sounds of dying and fighting.   
  
"That makes two of us!" Solo snarled as his paw shot out and broke the body of a were fox.   
  
Duo rushed him then, furious, and was only dimly aware of Heero shouting for him to stop. This was his fight, he thought, his brother.   
  
They impacted and Duo locked jaws on Solo's throat. He felt claws and teeth lock onto him as well and heard the gurgle that let him know that he had crushed Solo's throat. He tasted his brother's blood, heard his muffle whine, and then felt darkness sweep over him as they both crashed to the ground.

+  
  
"Duo!"   
  
A tongue lapped at Duo, teased his ears, and a nose nuzzled under his chin. He was enveloped in warmth and strength, a throbbing all encompassing pain radiating from his shoulder and half his back.   
  
"He'll live," a gruff voice said. "Keep the wounds clean. Feed him fruit and liver to get his blood back, and don't let him stretch the stitching."   
  
"Duo?" Heero's voice whispered anxiously.   
  
"Let him sleep, Heero," Quatre's voice said weakly.   
  
"And you rest as well," Trowa admonished. "That bite on your thigh needs healing too."   
  
"I want that were lion's hide on my floor," Quatre growled, but he sounded half asleep already.   
  
"Our floor," Trowa chuckled."But I'd rather have a white one."   
  
"Duo?" Heero said in Duo's ear, barely to be heard.   
  
Duo managed a small noise. He rolled one eye open. "Alive," he breathed.   
  
Heero felt acute relief and curled tighter around his love in their blankets. The battle over, they were all licking wounds and hoping that their enemy would not regroup and fight again.   
  
"Solo is dead," Heero told him very quietly.   
  
Duo squeezed his eye shut in pain. As much as he had felt betrayed, he still remembered looking up to his foster brother and feeling like a true family in his company. That he had been forced to kill him, when they could have ruled their own clan together as brothers often did, was a pain he was certain he would never lose.   
  
"I don't...?" Duo managed.   
  
Heero nuzzled him. "No, you don't have his blood on you. We cleaned you up."   
  
That was a relief. It was bad enough that he could still taste Solo's blood in his mouth. "You?" Duo asked. Sudden concern made him want to turn, but his back shot livid pain in warning against moving again.   
  
Heero was quiet.   
  
"Heero?" Duo wondered weakly, trying to keep his mind from falling that last step into unconsciousness.   
  
"My tail," Heero murmured, sounding embarrassed.   
  
"A were lion bit half of it off," Trowa said for him. "It was the only thing that kept him from tearing Solo apart and saving you; a were lion attached to his tail."   
  
Duo took a sharp breath. He tried to imagine Heero with only half a tail as he finally succumbed to sleep.   
  
"Eggs," Heero tried as he looked out of the sands of a carefully marked off area of desert. "When did you..?"   
  
"Sahri and I came to an... understanding," Wu Fei said in a very stiff manner, his crest shivering a little.   
  
"A very good understanding," Heero muttered. "Didn't it seem an odd pursuit before a battle?"   
  
"No," Wu Fei shot back and glared. "She was clutching and I was the highest ranking male. She wouldn't suffer another and she wouldn't lay without...encouragement. Foolish creature."   
  
Heero eyed his friend. "When will they hatch? Can they be moved, if need be? Our position might become dangerous."   
  
Wu Fei gave him a slow, reptilian blink. "They will be left, with the others. I doubt that they are of any interest to were lions."   
  
Heero didn't look sure of that. His tail ached. He kept it protectively close to his side, the end stitched and still bandaged. He had lost one of his spots, but that one had been dear to him. Duo was still resting and recovering, from his wounds as much from sadness at the loss of his brother. Questioning Wu Fei about his coming parenthood had seemed like a humorous distraction. Now, it was becoming clear, that it was only a means to highlight just how alien the were dragon could be. Heero would have protected his with life and limb. Wu Fei was ready to abandon them to their fate.   
  
"I wish I was home," Heero sighed, more to himself than anyone, suddenly wanting the familiarity of that.   
  
"Do you? With so much to lose?" Wu Fei questioned with a snort. "We protect it here, by meeting the enemy on this battle field, but it's no longer our home, my prince."   
  
Heero smiled, but it was sad. "I'm just weary, Dragon. I want peace."   
  
"Then fight for it," Wu Fei replied as he turned back for cooler shade among the rocks.   
  
Heero followed him, limping. "And if they win?"   
  
"Will we be alive to know it?" Fei shot back over his shoulder.   
  
Heero found some amusement in that. "No, I suppose not." They would die, he knew, to protect the were foxes, yet victory, he felt, would only come with the death of a certain white were lion. Without him, the rest would scatter.   
  
"We need to kill him," Heero growled.   
  
Wu Fei didn't need to know who. He nodded. "He doesn't stay with his army. He leaves them to bleed and die for him. To reach him, we will need to get past them."   
  
Heero frowned as Wu Fei threaded through a group of talking were foxes. They grinned at Heero, but offered Wu Fei respectful space. "I can't take Duo, he's too badly wounded."   
  
"I won't be left behind, my Prince," Wu Fei warned, as if, somewhere in their conversation they had formulated a plan. He knew Heero well and approved.   
  
Heero felt warmed by that trust. "Together, then, we'll go. Tonight."   
  
Wu Fei inclined his head and left him. Heero steeled himself as he entered his tent, the tent where Duo still stretched out on cushions, asleep, and in pain. To not tell him was as good as a lie, but Heero knew that the were lion would attempt to go, and die trying. He would be a liability, however treasured his presence would be. Better to take his anger, than to allow him to commit suicide by coming on his mission.   
  
Heero tried to imagine a fight with Zechs and felt his hackles rise in trepidation. Even with a very well armed and able were dragon, it would be a miracle if they succeeded. They would have to surprise him and take him when he was most vulnerable. It was dishonorable, and Heero knew that Wu Fei would be apposed to it, but he would follow Heero's lead in the end. Zechs had to die. The prides had to return back to their old ways or there would be blood as far as the eye could see in Zech's mad lust to have everything under his paws.   
  
"Heero?" Duo murmured sleepily, catching Heero's scent.   
  
"Sleep, love," he urged. "All's well."   
  
Duo slurred something else, about food, then was sleep again.   
  
A last gift to his love, Heero determined as he left the tent again, a fat desert buck wouldn't take long to hunt.


	20. Chapter 20

They were canny, these creatures of the desert, but Heero was determined. He shifted downwind, trying to make his body slink like a were lion's. The bucks were nipping at sparse tufts of grass and moving at a slow pace across patches of sand. Ears flicked, tails batted flies, and eyes were constantly darting about.   
  
"You," Heero breathed as he spotted one that was limping from some injury. Not only would he be slower than the others, but it was a kindness. The buck couldn't run with an injury like that one and it would soon fester.   
  
Heero sprang from hiding and the bucks scattered. The injured one slewed in the sand and tried to do the same, but the leg buckled and it staggered. Heero was on him in an instant, snapping the slim neck quickly and landing on top of the heavy weight of the beast as it died and fell.   
  
Heero enjoyed the hunt, but he didn't think that he would ever have Duo's taste for raw meat and hot blood. Fastidiously, he took hold of the buck and began dragging it. He wasn't prepared for the heavy weight that suddenly pinned him down to the ground, his face inches from the dead buck's wide eyes.   
  
Zechs was so very large and powerful. Heero felt himself trembling at the sheer size of the claws on either side of him. He didn't have a chance. The white were lion was going to snap his neck easier than he had the buck's.   
  
"I don't know how you managed to route my clans, but your interference in my plans ceases, now," Zechs hissed in his ear. "These lands are mine. Duo is mine. He will replace Solo as my mate and my right hand. Nothing will stop that."   
  
A nose sniffed along Heero's head, his ears, and then there was a snort of irritation. "What does he see in you? A stinking dog? A hairy, spotted, tailless..."   
  
"Prince," Wu Fei's voice interjected. "My prince. You will release him at once."   
  
Heero dared to turn his head then, feeling the hot breath of Zechs. Wu Fei was armed and standing ready to defend him.   
  
Zechs laughed out right. "You threaten me as if you were a serious threat to me. The sun has baked your brains, were lizard."   
  
"You don't look well, Zechs," Wu Fei observed cooly. "Were there rebellions after your defeat? Did they want to slink home with their tails between their legs? It must be difficult to motivate an army that wants only to fill their bellies and sleep in the sun, especially after they had their noses bloodied. You must have fought many battles to remain their king."   
  
Wu Fei's bravery shamed Heero. The were dragon was willing to die, taunting Zechs in the hope that the were lion would leave Heero and try to kill him instead. That sacrifice was unacceptable. Heero suddenly twisted about under Zech's rising weight as the were lion gathered himself to spring on Wu Fei.   
  
Zechs appearance shocked Heero. He was full of deep gouges and claw marks. His huge body was a war zone of injuries and his mane was soaked here and there with blood. This was a full grown were lion, despite all of that, though, Duo's future size, a small corner of Heero's mind noted in amazement and trepidation. Even injured, Heero wasn't any match for him. Still, he surged up, defying logic, defying fear, and snapped his sharp teeth onto Zech's jugular.   
  
It was unexpected, Zechs thinking that intimidation and fear had made Heero his prey, and his entire focus on the insulting were dragon. Heero knew that it was going to be a short lived victory, though. In another heartbeat, Zechs would tear him with his claws.   
  
"Let him go!" Quatre snarled. Jewelry flashing and fur bristled with anger, the small were fox landed on Zech's back, a dagger sinking into the vulnerable shoulder. He jerked it out again and stabbed down into Zech's heart, as the were lion reared and twisted to get at him, roaring in shock.   
  
"I will kill you all!" Zechs roared. "I will be king of all these lands!"   
  
"No," Wu Fei said as he jumped into the fray and a slash of claws to sink in his own daggers. "You will only be king of the dead."   
  
Zechs died, huge body sinking down slowly as he struggled to fight on. Heero felt claws rake him, but he held on, even when Zech's weight crushed him to the ground and took the breath from him.   
  
Heero whined, ears flat, as he struggled out, trailing blood from wounds and from Zechs. He became quickly aware, though, that Quatre was looking off to the side, eyes wary as he kept his perch on Zechs' back. Wu Fei was staring that way as well, a long line of his scales damaged and bleeding, his daggers lodged in Zech's body.   
  
Were lions, injured and looking ragged, were standing in a loose group. There weren't many. Zechs hadn't been able to control them all.   
  
Heero panted, ignored his pain and injuries, and straightened his body. He walked out to them, but kept a healthy distance. In a loud, clear voice, he said, "Your king is dead. Go back to your clans and live as you were meant to. This is done."   
  
They looked at each other, dazed, as if only Zechs' will, his fierce personality, had given them purpose and cohesion. Then, almost as one, they turned and began loping back into the sand of the desert, heading home.   
  
Quatre said a small prayer of thanks and then slid off of Zechs. "It's done," he said in disbelief, "How did we accomplish what they couldn't?"   
  
Wu Fei snorted as he examined his damaged scales. He picked a few off. "Sometimes, fear is enough. They feared him."   
  
"We feared him," Heero reminded him softly as he looked down at the body of Zechs. It didn't seem so frightening now, empty of the were lion's personality and limp on the ground. Heero took a deep, steadying breath and then moved around it.   
  
"What are you doing, my prince?" Wu Fei asked.   
  
"Getting Duo's buck and going home," Heero replied as he took hold of the carcass.   
  
"Home?" Quatre asked as he thought of the long journey back to the Keep.   
  
"My tent," Heero told him.   
  
Quatre smiled, understanding then.   
  
"Where ever Duo is, that's home," Heero explained and then began the painful journey back to his love.   
  
+  
  
"I like this place," Duo sighed as he stretched out on a warm rock, a morning breeze drifting over them and the sun just starting to bake pleasantly."I'm glad that we decided to stay."   
  
Heero yawned and rolled an eye at Duo. He was using Duo's distended belly as a pillow. Full of desert buck, Duo wouldn't be inclined for much more for days to come. "It's not the forest," Heero agreed, "but I'm finding a love for it as well. I only wish..." He trailed off and became thoughtful.   
  
Duo turned his head and became worried. "What is it?"   
  
"I'd like to know what's happening to my kingdom," Heero finally confessed. "I might have been irresponsible, not a wise choice as their prince, but I do still care."   
  
Duo nodded. "I understand that, but were you truly ruling? Did you truly have a hand in their welfare?"   
  
Heero grimaced. "No. In fact, J wasn't doing a bad job. I only thought that he was wanting war. It seemed that it was necessary after all. Zechs really had been a threat. I can't believe that Relena would ever want anything other than peace, either. She will make sure that my land is taken care of."   
  
Duo licked one of Heero's ears. "Send a note with a trade caravan, if it will make you feel better, but you know in your heart there isn't any need."   
  
Heero smiled. Duo's tail end flicked along his face. He caught it between his teeth, grinned, and began thinking that, perhaps, Duo could be convinced into mating even with a full stomach.   
  
"Not in front of the children," Wu Fei said cooly. He was suddenly there and stretching out on warm rock. Smaller versions of himself came to settle all around him, sighing contentedly. Sahri settled with a more imperious air higher up.   
  
Heero blushed and then smiled at the sight of a maternal Wu Fei and his new clan. He didn't show an ounce of affection, but Heero saw him watching his children under half closed eyes, making certain that they didn't get too close to the rock's edge.   
  
Heero thought of his own lack of children, and his lost chance with Relena. If he had stayed, he would have been Prince, ruling his land and siring heirs.   
  
"You can, you know?" Duo whispered.   
  
Heero looked at Duo in surprise.   
  
"Have pups, you know, if you wanna?" Duo elaborated. "I'm sure there's some were fox lady who might oblige. They aren't that different from you."   
  
Heero snorted. "I'm not interested in that," he replied and rose to nuzzle Duo's face. Lying side by side, he kissed his mate. He frowned in the next moment. "Pups?"   
  
"Yes, dog," Duo snickered, but seemed relieved.   
  
Heero nipped a rounded ear. "That for your insolence, cat." But then more seriously, "There is no other for me, but you."   
  
"And you are the only one for me," Duo breathed and kissed him again.   
  
"Children," Wu Fei reminded them irritably.   
  
"There are other rocks," Heero said to Duo suggestively.   
  
"Let's find one... a private one," Duo agreed.   
  
They rose as one and moved away. Wu Fei watched them go, ungainly were cat and tailless prince. Love was indeed blind, he thought, but then blinked against the sun to look up at his own mate. He smiled warmly. Very blind.   
  
THE END


End file.
